Miss Lonely Hearts
by Card1na15
Summary: This story starts in Season One, after the episode "Drone," and before the episode "Crush." Things at Smallville High take a left turn when Clark gets an unexpected request from Principal Kwan.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A New Job

Clark slammed and locked his locker door, happy to be done with one more day of school. Hefting his backpack, he headed for The Torch to see if Chloe needed any help.

Clark wasn't what you would call a regular reporter for The Torch, instead he was more like Chloe's personal assistant. He wrote the school lunch menu each week and helped edit her copy. If someone was sick, he pitched in to help cover that person's responsibilities...and so it was this day.

Clark strolled into the office and took a quick glance at the Wall of Weird to see if there was anything new. Here in Smallville, you never knew when the next meteor freak would pop up.

Chloe heard Clark enter the room and looked up from the monitor on her desktop computer. Seeing the boy she had had a crush on for the last year and a half made her smile. Her smile was as involuntary as it was genuine, because no one had the ability to brighten her day like Clark Kent. She reluctantly pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, as she had a message to relay to Clark from the faculty sponsor of The Torch, who happened to be Principal Kwan himself.

"Hey, Chloe," Clark said. "Uncover any corruption scandals today?"

"Ha-ha!" Chloe replied. "Very funny, Clark. Very funny. Just because the news on campus isn't earth-shattering doesn't mean it isn't important. I'll have you know I'm finishing my article on Sasha's breakdown." Chancing a glance Clark's way, she said, "It's strange, Clark, there were four candidates in that election, and only you came out unscathed." As Clark settled into a seat next to hers, Chloe picked up an official-looking document from the school office. "Clark, Principal Kwan needs to see you in his office right away."

"What?"

Brandishing the document, Chloe said, "Don't ask me, ask Principal Kwan. His note says it's urgent and it's related to the paper, so you're not in trouble." _But what worries __**me**__,_ Chloe wondered, _is why he won't tell __**me**__ what's going on._

Clark was as curious as Chloe was as he headed toward the office. He wasn't worried about being in trouble. He and Principal Kwan had been on pretty good terms ever since he pulled Kwan out of his burning car. The only hiccup had been when Kwan had been forced to give him detention for swimming during school hours the day Lana was affected by the Nicodemus flower. Even _that_ hadn't been too bad as Kwan had let him go after half an hour. Still, being called to the office to go over something about the paper was surprising.

When he got there, Kwan's secretary sent him right on in. Kwan immediately pointed Clark to a seat and said, "Ah, Mr. Kent, thank you for coming."

"My pleasure, Principal Kwan. How can I help you today?"

"I have a job at The Torch that has just opened up, as the previous holder of this position just moved to St. Louis. Having given this some thought, I'd like you to fill the position for the rest of the year, Clark. I know you're not the most _obvious_ candidate for this sort of job, but you're kind and conscientious."

"Who moved, Principal Kwan? I know pretty much everyone in The Torch and I haven't heard about anyone being gone."

"Well, I don't see any harm in telling you now since she's gone for good. Her name is Maria Snyder."

Clark's forehead furrowed in thought as he tried to remember who Maria was. He finally had to admit that he had no idea who she was, and he said so to Principal Kwan, who waved off Clark's embarrassment and said, "You aren't _supposed_ to know who she is, Clark. She's two years ahead of you in school, so you've never had her in a class and I've purposely told her to keep a low profile. She never went to The Torch. Instead, she came here to pick up her 'assignments,' and she sent her columns to me by e-mail. I then copied the text of the e-mail into a new e-mail and sent it on to Miss Sullivan to be placed in The Torch."

"Sounds like a hush-hush kind of job," Clark said. Intrigued, he agreed to do it. "Sign me up, Principal Kwan, this sounds like fun."

Now that Clark had committed himself, Principal Kwan picked a bright pink folder decorated with red, heart-shaped stickers out of a pile on his desk. He handed it to his unsuspecting victim and said, "I'm glad you feel that way, Clark. Because, for the rest of the year, you're writing the 'Ask Miss Lonely Hearts' column."

When Clark heard that, he dropped the folder like it was a hot rock. While he was kneeling on the ground, sweeping the scattered papers back into the folder, Clark said, "No way, no chance. _I_ can't be 'Miss Lonely Hearts. I'm not even a _girl."_

"What does that have to do with anything?" Principal Kwan replied as Clark stood up, placed the folder on the desk, and sat back down. "Your teachers consider you to be one of the most sensitive people they know, male _or_ female. You'll be perfect. Besides, you promised you'd do it already."

"Only because you tricked me."

"I had to trick you," Principal Kwan said unapologetically. "The last seven candidates I asked all said no."

"Well, how can I write a romance column when I can't even get a date? Wouldn't it help if I had some experience?"

"Whether you've been on zero dates or one hundred dates doesn't matter. What matters is that you're kind and you write well. Most of the people who write are girls. Sometimes they just want someone to listen to their problems, other times they're so emotionally involved in what's going on, that they just need someone with a little perspective to straighten them out a bit."

"But…but…"

"No buts, Clark," Principal Kwan said as he handed him the folder again. "The job's yours."

"But…what if I give advice that turns out poorly? Some angry girl or her boyfriend might come looking for me."

"That's why Maria was anonymous around The Torch. Until today, the only person that knew she was 'Miss Lonely Hearts' was me. Even Miss Sullivan was in the dark. I'm also the only one that will know about you." Looking to close the sale, Principal Kwan went to his big guns, and appealed to Clark's need to help people. "If I don't get you to help me, I'm stuck. You're my last hope."

Just as the principal hoped, Clark's inability to turn down someone in need tipped the balance and he agreed, on one condition: Kwan's _oath_ that no one would _ever_ find out about this, not for any reason.

Rubbing his hands together, Kwan said, "Okay. What you need to know is that you pick a couple of letters, whichever ones you like the best, and answer them in a succinct manner. There's not a lot of space devoted to this, so don't go writing "War and Peace" every time you reply. Also, you have to turn in the article on Thursday afternoon so I can get it to Miss Sullivan in time for the weekly issue of The Torch. Next, don't use real names. If someone uses what they claim is their real name, change it to something like 'Anxious in Algebra.' That way the school doesn't get sued when some student writes a fake letter to embarrass an ex-girlfriend. Got all that? Good! Get going. Your first column is due in two days."

Clark stuffed the folder deep into his backpack and said, "I can't believe it. I'm an actual newspaper columnist and I don't _dare_ tell a soul." As he made his way out of the Principal's office, Clark looked back over his shoulder and said, "I don't mind helping out once in a while, but you owe me for _this_ one, Principal Kwan."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

First Letters

Clark couldn't believe this had happened to him. _Me, Miss Lonely Hearts. What was Kwan thinking, _Clark wondered, _and why did I just agree to do it? _All he could think of was getting home so he could take a look at his new burden, but his feet were on autopilot and they had taken him back to The Torch.

"Hi, Clark," Chloe chirped as he wandered into the room and set his backpack on the desk next to hers. "What did our fearless leader want with you?"

Rattled out of his walking coma by Chloe's question, Clark said, unconvincingly, "Oh…nothing."

Chloe rolled her eyes, feeling almost insulted that he felt she was going to believe _that_ one. Clark thought about coming clean, but then he thought about the pink folder in his backpack and the ridicule he would receive if anyone found out, and he decided to keep it a secret. "Sorry, Chloe, Kwan told me it was a secret."

"Oh, come on, Clark," Chloe pleaded.

"Sorry, Chloe, nothin' doin'." Looking over her shoulder at the screen of her desktop computer, Clark changed the subject by asking what she was working on.

"Duh?" Chloe snorted. "It's Tuesday. What does that _always_ mean?"

Clark's face twisted with pretended concentration, something that Chloe found hysterical. Finally he asked in a small voice, "Articles from last weekend's events?"

When Chloe quit chuckling, she said, "Wow! It's only taken you seven months to figure that out. I'd _say_ I was impressed, but then I would be lying."

Clark sat down at the computer next to hers and asked her to send him some articles to go over. Cutting her workload here to a manageable level was Clark's biggest Torch-related job these days. The more articles he could review for her, the more work she could get done on piecing together a preliminary layout for the Friday paper. Clark put in an hour and a half before he felt the need to go home and do chores before dinner. Chloe groaned, but she reluctantly agreed to shut down and take him home.

After chores and a relaxed dinner of chicken and dumplings, Clark took his backpack out to the barn where he could look at the pink folder in privacy. He knew if he was going to tell _anyone_ about this, it would be his parents, only…he hadn't decided if he was going to tell them yet. So, off to the loft he went.

Once opened and on his desk, the folder turned out to be a slim three-ring binder. The letters themselves were grouped by which week they were received, and after checking a few back copies of The Torch, he saw that the letters on top of each week's pile were the ones picked to be answered in the weekly column.

Clark used his super speed to reread all of the letters in the folder, along with the printed responses, in a matter of seconds. He was surprised to find that the letters that called out to _him_ to be answered, were always on the bottom of the weekly piles.

It looked like this Maria Snyder had consistently taken the easy way out by choosing the safest letters to respond to. Clark figured, if _he_ was going to do this, he was going to do it right, and to him, that meant trying to help the people who seemed to need it the most. _I still think Kwan was smoking something when he decided __**I **__would be good at this, _Clark thought, _but I'll give it my best shot._

Clark reached into the pile of current letters to pull out one in particular written by 'Lori.' It was typewritten, like a lot of the letters were, likely in an attempt at hiding the author's identity. Lori's letter said:

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

I can't believe I'm actually writing to you, but I have nowhere else to turn for advice, and my love life is driving me crazy. I know my problem won't seem like that big a deal, but it's important to me, so I hope you'll give it some thought.

Without getting into too much drama, here's my problem: there are these two guys that I'm torn between.

The first one is my boyfriend, let's call him "Will." Will and I have been dating for a while now. He's a few years older than me and is more mature than the slobbering boys my own age I usually have to put up with. He's also kind (most of the time), cute, dependable, and a lot of fun to be with. I really like him. I think he's in love with me, but I'm not sure.

Virtually everyone thinks Will is the perfect guy for me. My friends, my family…heck, even people I don't know at school think we're this 'golden couple.' As for me, I'm not so sure. Sometimes I think I just stay with him because it makes me feel safe to have someone I can depend on.

But then there's this other guy, let's call him "Corey". I've known him for years, but it was just this year that we really became friends. He's quiet, humble, easy to talk to, puts others before himself, and he's even cuter than Will. The more I get to know him, the more I find myself wanting to spend time with him rather than with Will. I don't know what it is about him, but I just feel drawn to him. I think Corey might like me too.

So, I guess I'm not sure of what to do. I feel at ease with Will. Things would be nice and stable with him, very safe. But, I have this feeling that if I take a risk with Corey, that things could be much more than good, maybe even great.

Should I give up something good for something that might be great?

Yours,

Lonesome Lori

_She doesn't sound too lonesome to me,_ Clark thought morosely. _She's got **two** guys to pick from, **I** can't even get one girl. Of course, when you shoot for the moon like I have, sometimes you miss. So, what can I say to Lori? Also, Kwan said to keep the replies short, but he didn't set an actual limit. I wonder if Chloe has to edit these for length?_

Clark took a pencil from his desk drawer, sharpened it, and began writing on a clean sheet of paper. _Writing the words by hand will slow down the writing process and give me more time to come up with the right thing to say,_ he thought. After many rewrites, he was happy with his final draft.

Lori,

For me, the question isn't "which guy to choose," instead, I'd want to know what you want out of a relationship right now.

If your big goal in a relationship is safety and security, then it sounds like Will is the right guy for you. If you really want something that might lead to love, then Corey seems to be the choice.

Only you can make this choice, however, so think carefully about what is really important to you. Once you have decided what you really want, deciding whoyou really want should be much easier.

Sincerely,

Miss Lonely Hearts

After rereading his final copy, he checked his watch and saw that a lot more time had passed than he would have thought. _I'll have to do the second letter tomorrow, I need to get my homework done now._

The letter he chose the next day was from "Cinderella," and it went like this:

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

My name is Cinderella and I have a problem. There's this guy, called Prince Charming, that I have been interested in ever since the day I met him. We're already good friends, but I want more.

The problem is that Prince Charming has a girl that he is stuck on. Her name is Snow White. Snow White already _has_ a boyfriend, but I can't get Prince Charming to take his eyes off of her long enough to give me a chance.

All I want is an opportunity to see if we can make this work. What can I do?

Waiting for the glass slipper,

Cinderella

Clark had an easier time with this letter, since he had _a lot _of experience being on the outside looking in. He once again pulled a pencil out of his desk as he sat down to write.

Dear Cinderella,

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to get Prince Charming's attention, you need to arrange some time to be alone with him. A full day someplace where thoughts of Snow White will be left far behind. That way, you'll have a chance to check his interest in you.

If you see enough good signs to think he might like you the way you want him to, then the next step is to ask him out. I know most girls want the guy to ask them out, but if you wait for this Prince Charming to do the asking, you could be waiting a long time.

Sincerely,

Miss Lonely Hearts

By the time the paper came out Friday afternoon, Clark had already had a good day, since his history teacher had given his class a special project, to be worked on in pairs, and had assigned the pairs alphabetically, which put him together with Lana. They had already made plans to meet at the Talon next week to work on the project together. Clark strolled into The Torch, quickly reading his column to see if Chloe had needed to edit anything. Chloe, as always, was already at her computer working on an idea for next week's edition.

Seeing Clark walk in, Chloe perked up and said, "Hey, Clark, there's a student journalism convention in Metropolis two weeks from tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?"

"Sure, Chloe," Clark said as he slid into his usual chair at her side, "that'd be great."

"Oh," Chloe said, "could you sign us up, Clark? If they see _my_ name on the application after what happened last year, we'll never get registered."

Lifting the blank application form out of her hand and placing it into his backpack, Clark smiled and said, "No problem, Chloe." Taking another look at his copy of the latest edition of The Torch, Clark asked, "So, Chloe, how'd this week's edition turn out? What grade do you give it?"

_I'll let you know in two weeks after the student journalism conference, _Chloe thought. "Right now," Chloe said, "I'd say we get a 'B' for this issue." _But if Miss Lonely Hearts' advice pans out, it could be an 'A+.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Crushed

Clark took a large swallow of the Talon's best brew, then looked at his watch and decided he could afford to spend another half-hour at the Talon with Lana before he had to get home to work on the _rest_ of his homework, including reading more letters for 'Miss Lonely Hearts.'

Lana caught his downward glance, and asked, "What's the matter, Clark?"

"Nothing, Lana. It's just that recently, my workload at school has picked up, so I have to use my time a little more carefully." Clark pointed at the books and papers spread out all over their table. "Besides this report on Abraham Lincoln, I've got big stuff happening in two other classes this week _and_ I'm still helping Chloe after school with The Torch."

"I know I'm being nosy, Clark, but how did Chloe ever rope you into that in the first place?"

"Wellllllll," Clark said as he scratched the side of his head, "it all kind of happened this summer. Chloe had joined the newspaper staff and they all went to journalism camp at K.U. Since the previous editor of The Torch had graduated, they needed to choose a new one. All during camp, any time they had an assignment where the campers received scores, Chloe kept coming in first. She had started the camp as just another freshman newbie, but finished it by being named the new editor by Principal Kwan."

"Okay, Clark, that tells me how Chloe got the job, but it doesn't tell me how _you_ got sucked into helping her."

"Something you ought to remember from your brief time running The Torch is how short-handed you were. The problem Kwan caused by naming a freshman as editor was that a lot of upperclassmen on the staff were offended and quit. That created a shortage of experienced writers and photographers. Chloe was desperate and reached out to anyone with even the _slightest_ interest. The first two people she leaned on for help were me and Pete since we're her best friends…how else do you think Pete became a staff photographer as a freshman?"

"I'd wondered why most of The Torch's workers were so young." Lana's brow furrowed as she thought, which was one more thing about her that Clark found irresistibly cute. "I guess Chloe's been busier than I thought all year long."

"Yeah, she says she's 'busier than a one-legged woman in a butt-kicking contest.' And _that's_ why I gave in and helped her out. Chloe really needed my help until she got all of the empty positions filled and I kept doing it because she's fun to be with."

Feeling a pang of jealousy because she knew Chloe had feelings for Clark just like she did, Lana wondered if Clark ever referred to _her_ as being 'fun to be with.' Her immediate answer to that internal question was: _not likely, we don't ever get to do anything fun together because most of my free time is spent with Whitney these days. Some days, I honestly I don't know why Clark keeps hanging around me._

Clark was oblivious as usual and had already returned to their research materials. Picking up a large Lincoln biography, Clark pointed out a particular passage and said, "This may be something we can use."

Lana read the passage he was pointing out. It said that whenever Lincoln was upset with an army commander during the Civil War, he would write that commander a letter explaining why he was upset and the actions that Lincoln thought the offending commander should take to fix the problem. Once Lincoln had worked out his irritation during the process of writing the letter, he would then lock the letter away and never mail it to the person it was written for.

"I like that, too," Lana said. "Those letters were just a device for him to blow off steam. That way, he could work out his concerns without negatively affecting the commanders in the field."

The extra half-hour Clark had allowed himself to stay at the Talon had stretched to almost an entire hour before he reluctantly gathered up his papers and books for the drive home. He trudged inside the house to check in with his parents. While inside, he exchanged his research materials for his backpack and headed out to the loft. Once, the backpack was open, the pink folder called out to him like a beacon.

Clark had gone by Principal Kwan's office earlier in the day to pick up this week's letters and had been dismayed to see that the stack of letters was thicker this week than it had been last week.

Shaking his head once again at his stupidity for ever agreeing to do this, Clark super-sped through the stack of letters, looking for two good candidates. One letter caught his eye even though it wasn't the type to be used in the column. It was just an update from Cinderella. Her letter read:

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

Hi, it's Cinderella again. I'm just writing you to let you know I've already put Phase 1 of your plan into action. I've arranged to spend an _entire day_ all alone with Prince Charming.

If everything goes well, I'll put Phase 2 into action and ask him to go to the Spring Formal with me.

Wish me luck,

Cinderella

Clark was shocked that someone was actually following his advice. That made him wonder if Lonesome Lori had made her decision yet. A second look through the new stack of letters confirmed that there was no reply from her, so he got down to the business of answering this week's letters.

A couple of hours later, well after the Talon had closed for the evening, 'Lonesome Lori' was in her second-story bedroom. Lana had just come home from the Fordmans' place after stopping by to check on Whitney once she left the Talon. She hadn't stayed long with Whitney as, like Clark, she needed to get started on homework. But when she reached her bedroom, she had padded across the darkened room on bare feet to stare out at the night and think about what Miss Lonely Hearts had written. Both elbows were resting comfortably on her window sill and her chin was cradled in both hands. Through the near-perfect dark of a rural night, she could see a tiny blotch of yellow light, coming from what she knew to be Clark's loft.

_What **do** I want? _she wondered. _Ever since my parents died, I've wanted permanence. People that would **always** be there for me. Whitney is solid in that area while Clark has…problems…and yet, when I dream at night, the boy that I dream about is almost always Clark. He awakens new possibilities in me. _

_Also, if I do choose Clark, can I really dump Whitney when he needs my support the most? He's so attached to me and I wouldn't want to cause him any more pain, but where do his needs end and where do mine begin?_

As the school week drew to a close, Clark finished his second week of advice for the lovelorn, and he began to feel like he was really getting the hang of it. He and Lana finished up their project on Lincoln for history class and the last thing for students before the weekend was the annual Smallville High Career Fair. Attendance was required because the school board thought it was never too early to begin thinking about the rest of your life.

It was a waste of time for Clark. He already knew what his summer was going to be filled with: baling hay, feeding cattle, and the endless repairs that always seemed to be necessary around the farm.

As Clark aimlessly circled the room, Principal Kwan asked him to go speak to the Air Force recruiter. Not having anything better to do while he waited for Pete to finish up at the mayor's booth, Clark agreed. It turned out that the recruiter was Danny Kwan, the principal's son. Danny was stiff while giving his brief presentation, like this was his first day on the job. When he said, "I see you in the uniform, flying," Clark started looking for a way out of the conversation. He hated heights and just a few months earlier, while riding horses in Burnham Woods with Lana and Chloe, he had said that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life, as long as it didn't involve 'putting on a suit and flying.' The Air Force was a no-go on _both _accounts. Danny's next line: "Have you ever considered a career in the Air Force?" drove Clark away. He said, "Um, I'll think about it," and hurried off.

By the time Clark made it back to the mayor's booth, Pete was all smiles because he had just landed a summer internship with the mayor's re-election campaign. Not only was Pete going to get to work in the field of politics, something he had just shown an interest in by getting Clark to run for class president, but it was going to get him out of spending the summer as a file clerk for his mother, Judge Abigail Ross. As they walked and talked, the winding path that the two friends took slowly led them toward the far end of the room, where the Daily Planet booth was located.

As they should have expected, Chloe was camped out at the Planet's counter. When she finished there, she turned around and saw Clark and Pete slowly making their way toward her. Seeing Tall, Dark, and Handsome always put an extra spring in her step, and when he actually took notice of her appearance and gave her a compliment, it helped balance out the dread she was feeling about the intense competition for the few spots available in the Daily Planet summer intern program.

As the three of them circled the room, they evaluated Chloe's options, with Clark pointing out that Lex had promised to hook her up at The Inquisitor, an idea Chloe rejected instantly, and Pete suggesting she try again next Saturday since she was going to be in Metropolis anyway. Chloe thought that idea had some merit and was about to ask Clark if he would mind spending a little of their time at the Planet when he casually brought her world crashing down around her with one innocent-sounding question: "Why are you going to Metropolis?"

All of Chloe's carefully constructed plans flew out the window and her heart sank way below her stomach, coming to a halt somewhere near her shoe tops. She came to a complete stop, which forced her companions to stop and turn to look at her. She was so crushed that it took her a couple of seconds to even say anything. Desperately hoping the trip had just slipped his mind, Chloe tried to prod his memory by saying, "_We're _going to Metropolis, Clark. The student journalism conference?" _That ring any bells for you, Big Guy? _she thought hopefully.

The look of absolute surprise on Clark's face told Chloe all she really needed to know, but the twin disappointments of the dashing of her romantic plans and the fact that she wouldn't even be able to attend the conference made her want to rub it in Clark's face.

"You were supposed to sign us up," Chloe said, "and I _know _you didn't forget, because now it's too late to get in."

Pete really felt for Chloe both because he had long ago figured out her interest in Clark, and because she had confided in him about the secret purpose behind the trip. Even though he had feelings of his own toward her, feelings of genuine interest that were an absolute _first _for a would-be player like him, he was trying to give Chloe the support she needed.

Towards Clark, Pete felt nothing but disgust. Clark wouldn't take a step forward with Lana, which confused Pete to no end, and _then,_ right under Clark's nose, was a girl that Pete himself would _love_ to date. A girl that had done everything except throw herself in front of Clark's truck in an attempt at getting him to notice her. Once again, Captain Clueless was making a mess of everything.

For his part, Clark was embarrassed. He had promised Chloe to sign them up, and with everything going on in his life right now, it had totally slipped his mind. All that was left for him was to apologize.

"I'm _really_ sorry," Clark said earnestly. "I've been at the Talon all week with Lana working on a history project."

As far as Chloe was concerned, mentioning Lana as the reason he forgot about _her_ was just adding insult to injury. Where before she was just crushed, now she added resentment to what she was feeling.

"So naturally everything else becomes less important," Chloe said bitterly as she pushed by Clark and Pete, intent on making her way out of the room before she started to cry.

"Whoa, that's not true," Clark said disbelievingly.

Determined to get in the last word, Chloe turned on Clark and asked, "Clark, how much time have we spent together in the last three weeks?"

"We see each other every day."

"It was 45 minutes when my car happened to break down outside the Talon and you gave me a ride home." Throwing in some additional heat, Chloe added, "I practically had to tear you away from Lana."

"Don't you think you're being just a little unfair?"

"No! Whenever Lex and Lana are around, it's as if the rest of us don't exist." Chloe turned and continued her exit from the room.

Clark stepped forward and, in a somewhat confused manner asked, "Wait. Chloe, why are you being so hypersensitive?"

This last bit of cluelessness on Clark's part sent Chloe over the edge. She wheeled on Clark one last time and said angrily, "You know, most men are from Mars, Clark, but you're from some distant galaxy that I've never even heard of!"

Having finally succeeded in having the last word, Chloe stormed off before Clark could make things any worse.

Clark was completely confused and a little bit irritated by now. He turned to Pete, who had been a silent bystander to this argument, and said, "Look, I know I screwed up, but why is Chloe having a breakdown?"

Knowing that _he _would never have messed up a golden opportunity like the one Clark had just ruined, Pete let his disgust pour out. "You're not the most observant person in the world, are you?"

Clark was really getting irritated now. As Pete headed the same way Chloe had left, Clark followed, and asked, "What are _you _talking about?"

Without slowing down or turning around, Pete finally clued Clark in. "She wanted to spend a day with you uninterrupted. No Lana and no Lex. She was planning on asking you to the Spring Formal."

"Yeah, but that'd be like…"

Finally hearing evidence that the lights were going on inside Clark's head, Pete turned to Clark and said, "A date? Clark, maybe if you took off your Lana blinders, you'd realize that Chloe _likes_ you."

Like a dam bursting in Clark's mind, it all came together for him in a thundering rush. _Why didn't I ever see this before? _Clark wondered._ I mean, Chloe kissed me like she meant it the first day we met. Has she liked me all this time? And…and what do I feel about her? Could there be something there for us? Do I want to risk it?_

And while he was thinking those, and many other thoughts, one more line of thought crept into his brain. _What did Pete say Chloe had planned? She wanted an uninterrupted day with me, and she was planning on asking me to the Spring Formal. Why does that sound familiar?_

It wasn't until that evening, when he was back in the loft, that it hit him. He was using his three-hole punch to organize the last bunch of letters before putting them into the rings of the pink folder, when his eyes came across the brief update note from Cinderella. _Oh God, this can't be happening, _Clark thought. _Chloe's Cinderella!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A Second Too Late

Lana had been wrestling with what to do about Whitney and Clark for some time. Miss Lonely Hearts' response to her letter had only brought her thoughts more tightly into focus. Unswerving loyalty was one of her greatest strengths. Once you made it inside to become one of Lana's friends, that loyalty belonged to you. In this case, it belonged to Whitney, who needed someone to hold onto right now. Clark had also made it inside, but had instead become the one _she _relied on. She liked both guys, but there was something _more, _something exciting and maybe even a little dangerous involved in being with Clark. But should she risk it?

_Once you cross that line, _Lana thought, _there's no turning back._

She wrestled a nearly full plastic trash bag out of its can as she worked on shutting down the Talon for the evening.

_I told that to Clark about Chloe, but it's also true for me when dealing with him. He's been such a good friend this year, he's always ready to listen and whenever I need help, he's the first one in line. Do I want to risk that by trying for something more? Something that I **feel** is there._

Lana tied the bag closed and set it by the alley door so it would be ready to go when she emptied the rest of the cans. She went back and forth inside her head all during closing, trying desperately to untangle her thoughts and desires and make a choice for herself.

In the end, that was what it came down to.

_Whose feelings am I responsible for? _Lana thought._ It's not my job to make either Whitney **or** Clark happy. I have to make my decisions based on what makes **me** happy...and right now…that means Clark._

She thought back to the last conversation she had with Clark. He had as good as told her that he still had feelings for her…'Yeah,' Clark had said, 'I let that moment slip away and I don't think I'll ever get it back.' But he then had gone on to let her know that he wanted to go after Chloe, 'not wanting to let that moment slip away twice.' Now that he had saved Chloe from Justin Gaines, the former Torch cartoonist who had gained telekinetic powers, Clark's way was clear to do just that.

Lana realized that the first move between her and Clark was up to her. Once he had sent her back to Whitney, he would never ask her out or do anything to cause problems in her relationship with Whitney. Clark was the kind of guy that was going to respect her decision about who she wanted to be with, even if it killed him. She _loved_ that he was such a gentleman, but her having to take the first step as a result of his morals was scary.

As for when and where, Lana felt that there was no time like the present, especially when Clark might ask Chloe out at any time. Since he had said that school work was keeping him busy these days, she would go to his loft straight from work, since that was where he usually did his homework. She would tell him that she was breaking up with Whitney, now that his dad was on the mend, and hopefully he'd give her some kind of sign, something to encourage her to declare her intentions.

At that moment, Clark's mind was filled to distraction. Earlier in the day, he had stopped Justin Gaines just in time to keep him from killing Chloe. Also, the staff at The Torch was still trying to piece together a memorial issue for Principal Kwan without Chloe's help, _and_ he still hadn't resolved his feelings for Chloe.

_Seems like everything in my life is revolving around Chloe right now,_ Clark thought. _Strange, my life **usually **revolves around Lana. _As far as Clark could tell Lana was going to be with Whitney forever. He _felt_ something there, something strong, but Lana hadn't given him any reason to wait for her. And with Chloe, those unresolved feelings of his were just _begging _to be resolved now that Justin was out of the way. When he combined the two, he knew he wanted to try with Chloe. Lana was happy with Whitney, it was time for him to find some happiness of his own.

Chloe, however, was staying in the hospital overnight for observation after she had been diagnosed with a mild concussion. Clark had been worried that it was going to be something worse than a concussion once he realized Justin had hit her in the head with an iron horseshoe. After riding with her to the hospital in an ambulance, he had stayed with her until her dad arrived from the LuthorCorp plant, then he had left to let her get some rest.

Looking for something to get his mind off of Chloe lying hurt in the hospital, Clark took a seat in his loft as he sorted through the stack of letters he had picked up from Kwan's office earlier in the day. _God, _he thought, _I hope there's not another one from Cinderella in here. I wouldn't know what to do. Giving advice to her about dealing with me and Lana was just unreal._

Clark had been unsure about how to pick up what he now privately referred to as 'his' letters, since Kwan was dead. He had hesitantly approached the principal's office, but he needn't have worried, because Kwan's secretary, Miss Simon, had had the letters ready for him. Apparently she knew everything about this situation, because as Clark made to leave the office, she had said quietly, "Keep up the good work, Mr. Kent. The last columnist just provided a shoulder to cry on. You're actually providing solid, positive advice. And your readers seem to be taking notice."

Already stopped dead in his tracks by the idea that someone else knew about his secret job, Clark turned back and said, "Huh?"

"That pile of letters is _easily _the biggest stack of the year," Miss Simon said. "In only two weeks, you've struck a chord with the girls of this school." Smiling warmly, she added, "You might even have a few letters from desperate _guys_ by now."

As Clark had turned back to leave, Miss Simon had hit him with a parting shot that nearly buckled his knees. "If the girls of this school knew that the sensitive and practical Miss Lonely Hearts was actually a nice looking young man such as yourself, you'd have so many girls chasing you that you'd need to have Sheriff Ethan put you in protective custody at night just so you could get some sleep."

Just remembering that moment made Clark blush a fiery red. His absorption in that memory was so complete, that he didn't hear the sound of soft steps on the treads of the loft's wooden stairs until a small feminine voice called out from a few steps down, "Hi, Clark."

Clark looked up from the letters and saw that it was Lana. She was wearing a teal Henley and her trademark tight blue jeans. Her long, silky hair was pulled back in a pony tail. Clark didn't notice any of those details though, because he was too busy panicking. _Oh my God, _he thought. _I can't let her see the folder or read the letters, or my goose is cooked._

He bounded up off of the couch before Lana could begin the last three steps and rushed over to meet her, leaving the letters in a neat stack on the couch right next to the pink folder, which Clark had laid face down so the red hearts weren't showing.

"Hi, Lana," Clark said nervously. "What's up?"

Lana was fighting nerves of her own and thus didn't notice the quaver in Clark's voice as she replied, "Nothing much Clark. I just came by to see you." While she didn't notice Clark's nerves, she _did _notice he was standing still at the top of the stairs which kept her from coming up onto the top level of the loft.

"Umm…Clark? Are you going to let me come up?"

"Uh…nope."

At first Lana thought he was joking, but when he made no attempt at moving, she asked, "Why not?"

"Well…I'm working on something secret right now." _Boy am I ever!_

Feeling somewhat skeptical, Lana leaned to the right to peek around him, but the only things she saw that were different before Clark ushered her back down the stairs were two things: a bright pink folder and a stack of previously folded papers. She was halfway to the barn floor before it hit her, a_ pink_ folder? For _Clark?_

"What's with the pink folder, Clark?" Lana asked. "That's a great color for me, but it doesn't quite fit you."

Clark was already sweating figuratively, and if Lana kept up her questions, he would start sweating for real. "Umm…it was the only one available to me when I went and got it." _Yeah, that's definitely all Kwan had in his hands._

"And the crinkled papers?"

Before he thought, he blurted out the truth, by saying, "Letters." _Mistake! Cover it, Fool! _"Umm…people write me letters and, umm, I answer them."

Lana found her interest was piqued by Clark's letters so she asked, "Like pen pals? That sounds _cool, _Clark."

"Yeah, you could think of it that way." _Please do, it will save me a lot of grief._

Hands in her back pockets, Lana asked, "Could I read some of your letters?"

Clark's level of panic reached a new high and he said hurriedly, "**No! **Umm, I mean, those are private. I'm sure the people writing them expect me to keep them to myself. Sorry, Lana." _Yeah, I doubt all those girls want you to know their love secrets…and I __**definitely**__ don't want you knowing who they think they're writing to._

Lana thought something was going on with the letters, but she hadn't come by to talk about Clark's correspondence. She had come to get things started between them. She took a brief second to admire his appearance. He was still wearing the white shirt with the blue and red plaid pattern that he had worn earlier today. His hair was perfectly tousled, and his baggy jeans clung to him just enough to stoke any girl's interest.

That pause for eye candy was fatal to her hopes.

While she was admiring, Clark had marshaled his courage and then said, "Lana? I think now that Justin's out of the way, I need to take my shot with Chloe. What do you think?"

The blood drained from Lana's face. _Noooooooo! _she thought, _I came out here to talk about us, not Chloe._ Lana knew she had been a second too late. Now she had to be for Clark, what he had always been for her: a friend, someone to lean on during _his _romantic trials. She knew already that she was going to _hate_ this!

It was nearly a _miracle_ that she didn't faint on the spot, and it was all she could do to plaster a sickly smile on her face as she said, "That sounds great, Clark." _Just stick a knife in my heart while you're at it. _"I'm sure Chloe will say yes." _Who am I kidding? Chloe will be turning friggin' backflips! _"You two will be great together." _Is __**this**__ what it's been for like for Clark as he has had to be my boy friend instead of my boyfriend? I've only been doing it for ten seconds and it's already Hell._

During the longest five minutes of her freshman year, Lana helped Clark plan his strategy for asking Chloe out. He was already scheduled to help Mr. Sullivan pick Chloe up from the hospital so that Mr. Sullivan could return to LuthorCorp immediately after signing her out.

_Where_ they would go on their date was easy once Clark mentioned the journalism convention and the fact that he had tickets already and Chloe didn't. Where to _ask_ her had been a bit sticky. Lana almost puked when Clark finally suggested bringing Chloe by the Talon for a cup of coffee and asking her there. Lana already knew she had the afternoon shift tomorrow, and would thus have a front row seat to watch the guy _she_ wanted ask out someone else.

Once Lana drove off, Clark headed back to the loft to get some work done on his Miss Lonely Hearts duties. Picking the two best letters to respond to was becoming harder with the increase in the number of letters he had to read through. One letter though caught his eye instantly. It was handwritten and rather short, both of which were highly unusual. The letter read:

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

I'm a just a lonely farm boy who has got two of the hottest girls in my class both trying to get my attention, but I'm single-handedly screwing up my chances with both of them.

Could you help me mess things up any faster?

Sincerely yours,

Stu Pidaso

By the time he completed reading the letter, he knew why the letter was so short: it was a prank. And from the handwriting, he was sure it was written by none other than Pete Ross. Clark was just about rolling on the floor after reading that letter. The best part was the pen-name he used, Stu Pidaso. That was _brilliant!_ Still, Clark wondered where he got the material for his letter. _Is there some guy out there actually screwing things up like that? Whoever he is, I hope he doesn't write in. I don't think I can help him._

When Lana got home, she ran up to her room before Nell could even get a word out. Lana flopped down on her bed and screamed. When Nell came up to see what was the matter, Lana begged her to just go away. Once she had released her pent up frustrations, she settled down to think.

_Who can I talk to about this?_ Lana wondered. _Nell wouldn't understand, she thinks Whitney's my ideal guy. Same for my girlfriends at school. Clark, who I normally turn to for things like this, is off limits for obvious reasons. Ditto for Chloe. Pete's a nice enough guy, but he doesn't seem to even understand the **concept** of a relationship._

With no one else left to turn to, Lana walked over to her desk, pulled out a piece of paper and started to write.

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

First Steps

As planned, Clark met Mr. Sullivan at the hospital to help bring Chloe home. Once she was dressed, in an outfit she had chosen over the phone since she didn't trust her dad's fashion sense, Clark escorted her out of the hospital while Gabe signed the release forms.

"Hey," Clark asked nervously, "you wanna stop by the Talon for a latte?"

"Well…"

"My treat."

"Okay," Chloe grinned sunnily, "you talked me into it."

As they walked through the front door of the Talon, they made quite a contrast. Short, curvaceous Chloe was wearing a patterned brown blouse and red pants, while tall, muscular Clark was more soberly attired in a blue oxford with a white pinstripe grid and his usual blue jeans.

They took a small round table close to the counter and then Clark headed to the counter to place their orders. Clark looked back over his shoulder and asked, "Non-fat and low-foam, right?"

"You remember!"

Clark stepped up to the counter where a pink and denim clad Lana was waiting. _Gaaah, I must be his friend, _Lana thought. _I can't blame Chloe or Clark. It's my fault for waiting too long. _

"Hi, Clark," Lana said brightly. "What can I get for you today?"

"A non-fat, low-foam latte for Chloe and a cappuccino for me." Clark nodded to where Chloe was sitting. "We'll take them over there." He half-turned away before stopping, and saying quietly, "Wish me luck."

"Luck," was all Lana was able to choke out in reply. She was unsure what kind of luck she really wanted him to have. The friend in her wanted Clark to get everything he deserved, but the selfish part of her thought that he deserved _her._

They talked about Chloe's concussion and the horrid hospital food while they waited for their coffee. Once Lana dropped off the coffee, she headed upstairs on a made-up errand, anything to get away from the impending emotional train wreck. The errand didn't last long enough, however, by the time Lana came back downstairs with her serving tray, they were still there, still making small talk.

"I just spoke to Justin's parents," Chloe said.

"How's he doing?" Clark asked.

"He's in the psychiatric ward. The police don't really know what to charge him with, but at least he won't hurt anybody." As Clark nodded his head in agreement, Chloe finally turned to the part of the conversation she was dreading. "So should we do the, uh, 'I told you so' part? Or is my perennial bad judgment implicit?"

Afraid of what she would see, Chloe looked directly into Clark's eyes and was gratified to see sorrow and sympathy instead of smug satisfaction. Given what kind of friend he had always been to her, Chloe knew she shouldn't have been surprised.

"Chloe, I wish I were wrong."

"What is it with me? I can spot Wall of Weird material from a mile away but put it right in front of me and I'm oblivious."

_That hits a little too close to home, _Clark thought. But verbally, he disagreed with her, saying, "You're not oblivious, you're trusting." _Here goes nothing, _Clark thought as he summoned his courage. "You're strong enough to take risks with your emotions. I wish I were as brave as you."

Chloe didn't know how to handle that compliment, so she just stayed silent, curious to see where Clark was going with this line of thought.

Almost hesitantly, Clark said, "I still have those two tickets to the journalism convention."

Where only a few seconds ago Chloe had been thinking she had done irreparable damage to her chances with Clark over the past few days, she suddenly began to have hope.

"It'd be a good chance for us to spend some time together," Clark said.

Unable to believe this sudden turn of events, Chloe smiled widely and said, "Okay, it's a date."

Clark answered her smile with a satisfied smile of his own as he reached across the table to wrap his fingers around Chloe's thumb.

Lana, just as she had feared the night before, had a front row seat. Though she thankfully had been unable to hear what was being said by either Clark or Chloe, she needed no help deciphering the meaning of Clark reaching across to clasp Chloe's hand. Lana became so agitated, that she needed something to do to take her mind off of what was going on right in front of her.

At that moment, Lana saw Whitney come in the front door. _Well, _Lana thought,_ now that I've decided that I don't want to be with Whitney any more, the only fair thing to do is to break up with him. I shouldn't let him hold on to false hope._ _And, maybe, if I end this now, right in front of Clark, he might get the idea that I'm finally free. Maybe…maybe he'll ask me out._

Set on a course of action, Lana walked out from behind the counter, determined to meet Whitney half way.

"Whitney," Lana said as she drew near to him, "we need to talk." She had been so focused on what she planned to say, that she didn't notice Whitney's obvious emotional distress until she stopped right in front of him. Suddenly worried, Lana asked, "What is it? What happened?"

Whitney struggled, finally choking out, "It's my dad."

Lana went through a range of emotions in a short span of time. First she felt irritation because she knew she wouldn't be able to break up with Whitney_ now._ Then, her close friendship with Whitney kicked in and her sympathy for the Fordmans overwhelmed her petty personal concerns. _Whitney needs me right now, _Lana thought. _Maybe Clark going after Chloe was a sign to me that I wasn't quite done with Whitney yet. If I believe in signs that is._

The death of Mr. Fordman changed a few things. Not only did Lana feel unable to break up with Whitney while he was in such pain, but the funeral was scheduled for Saturday, the day that Clark and Chloe were supposed to be going on their date to the journalism convention. They mutually agreed they had to cancel the trip so they could support their friends.

When Lana found out that Clark and Chloe were canceling their trip to Metropolis, she wanted to dance for just a second and then felt like a total creep for taking even the slightest enjoyment from anything surrounding Mr. Fordman's death.

On the day of the funeral, the weather was cold and rainy. The somber setting was a perfect match for the mood of those in attendance. The only things heard at the graveside were the droning sounds of the priest's service and the constant tattoo of heavy raindrops on the tombstones and the waterlogged ground.

As the crowd of mourners broke up to head for the protection of their cars, Clark, Lana and Chloe all lingered. Clark and Lana connected in that moment and though no words were spoken, the looks they gave to each other spoke of an intense longing that had no place in their lives right now, and might not ever. Chloe looked on from the side, her eyes solely focused on Clark, and she wasn't liking what she was seeing.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

More Letters

After the convention date with Chloe was canceled due to the funeral, Clark found himself unable to reschedule the date because of what had happened at the burial. He was more confused than ever. Here was Chloe, a beautiful, intelligent, and thoroughly attractive girl that really wanted to be with him and yet he was helpless to do anything about it simply because Lana Lang had looked at him at the end of the graveside service.

Oh, he knew it was much more than a simple look. She had said more with that look than most people could say in a five-minute monologue. She had walked off with Whitney, yet that look had said plain as day that she wanted to be with _him._ Still, until Lana broke up with Whitney, he'd feel like a heel if he tried to move in on Lana…and he still had those unexplored feelings for Chloe to try and work out.

Eventually, Clark settled in to do his weekly duty as the advisor to the lovelorn. He read the letters at normal speed, wanting to wallow in other peoples' misery as a hoped-for antidote to his own problems. This time, he found another letter from 'Lonesome Lori.' It read,

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

Hi, it's Lonesome Lori again. I wish I wasn't still writing to you, but everything is awful!

I took your answer to my last letter to heart and decided what I want most. I decided that 'good enough' was no longer enough for me and so I chose Corey. The chance for something great was too irresistible to pass up. Unfortunately, I chose too late.

I made the mistake of thinking Corey would always be there, patiently waiting for me while I made up my mind, but another girl has suddenly caught his interest. Now the shoe's on the other foot. I have to be a supportive friend and wait for him as he dates this other girl. I feel so stupid for waiting so long. I wish I could go back in time just one day so I could let him know, then maybe he'd be mine.

The really bad part is, this other girl, call her 'Carol,' is a friend of mine, so I can't just try to take him away from her. Also, she's pretty and smart and fun to be around, so Corey might end up really liking her.

I'm so frustrated right now. What should I do?

Yours,

Lonesome Lori

_Well, _Clark thought, _I do understand her problem. This girl is having to wait for her Corey like I'm having to wait for Lana. Having to wait while the person you want spends their time on someone else is nothing but torture. _Grabbing a sheet of paper, Clark rummaged through his desk drawer to find a pencil. Then he set to work composing his reply.

Lori,

I understand what you're going through. I've gone through something similar myself. All I can advise is to continue being Corey's friend. Don't get mad just because he's looking at someone new, and don't let your frustrations get the best of you.

The same goes for Carol. Show some maturity by not snapping at her just because the guy you want is interested in her now. If she's your friend now, you're going to want her as your friend later, so don't ruin things between you two.

Patience is your best friend right now. I can't stress that enough. Who knows, when Corey goes out with Carol, they might not work out and you'll be there to show him that you're ready to try a relationship with him.

Sincerely,

Miss Lonely Hearts

Clark spent the next couple of weeks being as wishy-washy as ever. He kept edging closer to Chloe, trying to make their relationship more about male and female and less about two buddies, but he was unable to ask her out and make it official that their relationship had turned a corner. Any time he thought about asking Chloe out, the black-clad Lana from the funeral would move to the forefront of his mind, reminding him they had unfinished business of their own.

_I wish **I** had someone to write to, _Clark thought. _Who's going to help **me** figure out what I should do? Pete would likely tell me to go for both girls at the same time and become a real player, but I couldn't do that to any girls, much less two that I care for like Lana and Chloe._

Finally, taking his cue from the history paper he and Lana did on Abraham Lincoln, Clark decided to try and organize his thoughts and feelings by writing them out in a letter. Laughing at the humor of writing a letter of this type to himself, Clark decided to address the letter to 'me.'

Dear Me,

I've got these two great friends who both happen to be girls.

One has held my heart in her hands for as long as I can remember, but she's never been available, whether because of my "allergies" or because she's dating someone else. I think she wants to be with me, but she won't/can't get away from her current boyfriend.

The other friend is close to me and has been ever since she moved to town last year. I just found out that she likes me and that I may have feelings for her, too.

Another friend of mine said that love isn't about playing it safe, it's about risk. He says unless I put myself out there, I'll never know. I think he's right and I'm ready to take that risk. But who to take the risk on is my problem.

How do I choose?

Sincerely,

Clark

Clark stared at the letter as he pondered the last question. Writing his thoughts down _had_ helped organize them. As he pondered, 'how do I choose?' morphed into 'what do I want?' At that point, he flashed back to the advice he had given to Lonesome Lori in response to her first letter. Decide what you want and then choose the person who can give you that. When he thought of it like that, there was only one way to go.

Chloe was attractive and he had some brand-new feelings for her that might become love, but Lana was someone he was _already_ in love with, and seemingly had been forever. What Clark wanted was _love,_ pure and simple, and that made Lana his choice.

For the first time since the Blood Drive, Clark chose to fight for Lana. _Whitney's had his chance, _Clark thought, _now it's my turn._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nobody

Clark was acting fidgety at breakfast. Jonathan was out in the fields already, so he wasn't there to see it, but Martha was doing dishes, and having a mother's fine-tuned senses, she knew something was different about today.

"Clark, is something wrong today?" Martha asked.

Not looking up from his fruit-topped oatmeal, Clark mumbled a hurried, "No, Mom."

"Come on now, Clark. I'm your mother and I know when something is bothering you…only today, it's different than what usually gets under your skin."

Wondering how she always managed to read him so easily, Clark relented and said, "I need to borrow a truck today."

"That's not so unusual, Clark. What do you need it for?"

After finishing off another spoonful of oatmeal, and washing it down with a swig of milk, Clark said, "Today is the day."

Looking for further explanation, Martha took a seat at the table and waited, her chin cradled in the palms of her two hands. When no more explanation was immediately forthcoming, Martha prompted, "The day for what?"

Very hesitantly, Clark said, "The day I ask Lana out."

Surprised, Martha sat back in her chair and asked, "Isn't she still dating Whitney?"

"Yes, but if everything goes well, she won't be for long." He finally looked Martha straight in the eyes. "I know this sounds harsh and somewhat selfish, but I'm tired. Tired of waiting, tired of putting _my_ life on hold just because Whitney has some family problems. I want to take a chance with Lana. I can feel there's something between us every time we meet."

Martha couldn't disagree with the last part of his statement, for sure. Any time she saw Clark and Lana together, the chemistry between the two was palpable. Why they weren't dating already was a mystery to _her,_ but maybe Lana felt an obligation to Whitney, in which case Clark was headed for a disappointment. Still, it was his choice to make, so she said, "Since your chores are already done, you can take a truck."

Hearing that, Clark's face lit up with that grin that always reminded Martha so much of Jonathan. At times like that, it was hard for her to believe they weren't genetically related.

Clark, meanwhile, raced through the rest of his breakfast. When finished, he placed his dishes in the sink and headed upstairs to shower and change into something presentable. He remembered, from the advice Chloe gave him before Lana's birthday party, that he looked good in blue, so he pulled on a blue oxford and khaki Dockers. A quick buff of his shoes and Clark was ready to go…and then he realized that he was dressed for a date, which might be a bit too formal for just asking Lana out, so he changed into something more normal for him: a form-fitting red t-shirt and blue jeans along with white Nikes.

Taking a quick look at himself in the bathroom mirror as he tried to bring a semblance of order to his hair, Clark was satisfied. This was a slightly neater version of the way he looked every day. If Lana _really_ liked him as much as he thought she did, then this would be enough.

Clark thanked his mom for letting him have the truck as he ran out the kitchen door. He was halfway to Lana's before he decided to get something nice for her. He headed into town and bought a small bouquet of wildflowers at the floral shop in town not owned by Lana's Aunt Nell. He already knew Nell didn't look upon him with a friendly eye, so there was no point in letting her know who Lana's flowers were from.

With the flowers sitting beside him on the bench seat, Clark headed to Lana's. He was so nervous, that he drove past her driveway three times before he could make himself turn in. As he approached the porch with flowers in hand, Clark realized his palms were getting sweaty, so he stopped to dry them off on his jeans before knocking on the front door.

_*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*_

Clark stepped back, flowers in hand, and waited. He felt like the condemned, waiting, with his head on the chopping block, for the death stroke to fall.

The door opened, but instead of Lana, Clark saw Nell. His spirits dropped and he quickly lowered the bouquet to his side, hoping she wouldn't see it.

Nell was just as disappointed. She had the day off from the flower shop and had been helping Lana get ready for Whitney. That's who she was expecting the visitor to be, and instead was faced with Clark Kent. A more-than-handsome boy, Clark bore no resemblance to his father except for being tall and strong, but whenever Nell saw Clark, she always saw the man that broke her heart, Jonathan Kent, walking in Clark's shadow like a ghost.

Polite as ever, but without a hint of warmth, Nell said, "Hello, Clark. How are you today?"

"Just fine, Ma'am," Clark replied. "And how are you doing?"

"I'm well."

When she opened the screen door, she got a look at what Clark was holding down at his side: a bouquet of wildflowers. The sight of the flowers made Nell's smile curdle, but Clark was so nervous, that he didn't notice.

In a slightly squeaky voice, Clark asked, "Ms. Potter, is Lana home? There's something I need to talk about with her."

Forcing a polite smile back on her face, Nell said, "No, Clark, I'm sorry, Lana's gone out riding with Whitney this morning."

Clark looked like the air had been let out of him as he said dejectedly, "Oh."

"If you call ahead next time, things like this can be avoided."

Hearing the slight reprimand in her voice, Clark realized it would have been polite for him to have called ahead, only, he had been so excited that he had completely forgotten to.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Potter, I'll call ahead next time."

"You do that." Nell started to close the door. "Goodbye, Clark."

"Goodbye, Ms. Potter. Would you tell Lana I came by and that I need to talk to her?"

"Sure thing, Clark."

Clark headed home, cursing his lick and wishing he had called before coming over. As he turned the truck down Hickory Lane for the short drive home, Lana came bouncing down the stairs in a royal blue tank top and blue jeans. She would've answered the door herself, but she had been putting her hair into twin braids to keep it out of her face while she rode.

While she pulled a pink jacket out of the hall closet, Lana asked brightly, "Who was at the door? Was it Whitney? Has he brought Tyson over already?"

Nell had stayed at the door to watch Clark leave. She turned quickly and said, "It was no one, Lana…no one at all."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Second Choice

Clark watched with the telescope in his loft as the light came on in Lana's bedroom. She had just been checked out at the hospital after he saved her from Deputy Watts, who had tried to make his reputation as a cop by 'solving' her murder.

Now that Lana and Chloe were both safe, Clark could turn his thoughts back to what had been on his mind before the gas explosion. Namely, asking Lana out. His wildflower bouquet had wilted with the wait, but Clark couldn't wait any longer, he _had_ to ask her out _now._

Minutes later, Clark was standing beneath her bedroom window tossing pebbles to try and attract her attention. _At least this time the light's still on in there, _he thought.

Lana slid her window open and smiled radiantly to see her very own guardian angel out on the lawn. The last time he had gone to such extreme measures, he had missed her birthday party and had wanted to make up for it. This time, she owed him her life and she wondered what he wanted.

"Hi, Clark," Lana said, as she pulled some hair out of her face, "thanks again for saving my life."

"It's like you said earlier this year, Lana, 'I'm always there when you need me.'"

Nodding her head in agreement, Lana said, "True…very true." _I also remember what else I said then, Clark. 'Clark Kent. He's not always there when you want him.' Are you finally going to be there, now that I want you so badly or are you still after Chloe? _"That doesn't explain what you're doing here tonight though."

"I wanted to see you…I _needed_ to see you…and I couldn't wait any longer."

Her curiosity piqued, Lana leaned forward a bit and asked impishly, "Can you see me now?"

"Better than you can imagine," he said under his breath. Then louder, "Could you come down here? There's something I need to ask you."

"Sure. Give me a minute." Lana was still dressed, so she took a minute to check her hair and makeup in the mirror before telling Nell she'd be out front for a while enjoying the night air.

Both were still wearing the same clothes they had been wearing at the carnival grounds. Lana had on a white, crew-necked blouse that just touched her dark blue jeans. On top of that was a dark pink button-up sweater that was completely unbuttoned. Clark wore a dark blue jacket, red t-shirt, and blue jeans.

When Lana came outside, Clark said, "Thanks for coming."

"It's my pleasure."

Wanting to be away from the house where Nell might see them, Clark led Lana over by the stable. When he stopped and turned to her, Lana just waited, knowing that it was his place to speak.

Breaths were suddenly hard to come by for Clark as he neared his moment of truth. He had carefully planned what to say, but now that Lana was standing in front of him, giving him an earnest, supportive look, he couldn't remember any of what he had planned.

Finally, Clark said, "I don't know of any other way of doing this, so I'll just ask." Having committed himself, Clark was able to gather himself a bit before asking, "Lana? Will you be my date for the Spring Formal?"

Lana's eyes danced and her mouth widened into an uncontrollable grin as what she had waited for ever since the blood drive had finally happened. _Clark Kent asked me out!_ She almost blurted out a happy, 'Yes!' until she remembered…she had already promised to be Whitney's date to the dance.

_Damn, _Lana thought, _not now! Why couldn't he have asked before I went riding with Whitney? Damn, damn, damn! I thought he was still chasing Chloe. But then, on the bright side, maybe this means I'm his first choice now._

Clark saw the joy spread across Lana's face, followed immediately by sorrow. Unsure of how to take that, he waited apprehensively.

"I would _love_ to go to the dance with you, Clark, problem is, Whitney already asked me… and I said yes." Her eyes pleading with him to understand, Lana added, "I can't back out on him now, it's too close to the dance."

Clark felt like he'd been sucker punched. Even to_ his_ eyes, it was obvious she wanted to go with him, but instead, Whitney got there first.

Seeing the dismay on Clark's face, Lana rushed to assure him that she wanted _him. _"If I had a choice, I would choose _you,_ Clark."

"I can't _tell_ you how happy it makes me to hear that from you," Clark said sheepishly. "I've wanted that for so long."

"You aren't mad at me?"

"Nope. Why would I be? The last time we talked about me and dating, I told you I was going after Chloe. Why shouldn't you accept an invitation to the dance from Whitney? I'm just mad at myself for not asking you sooner. I _tried_ to ask you early on the morning of the gas explosion, but Nell said you had already left to go riding with Whitney. Of course, that likely wasn't early enough to ask you either."

Lana had a sudden suspicion enter her mind, and if it was true, she wasn't going to be a happy camper. "What time did you come by that day? Was it before 10 in the morning?"

"Yeah, I came by just after breakfast and knocked on the front door. Nell answered, and, after telling me you were gone, she promised to tell you I had come by. But that was before all the excitement of the gas explosion."

Lana was steaming mad now. _The knock on the front door that morning while I was been braiding my hair was Clark coming to ask me out, _Lana thought furiously._ Nell lied to him about me not being home, and then hid the truth from me about who was at the door. No one…no one at all, huh? I'll show you 'no one.' Nell, you are __**so**__ dead!_ Lana had to struggle to keep from telling Clark exactly what had happened, but she really didn't want those two at each other's throats, so she said, "You must have _just_ missed me, Clark."

Clark exhaled heavily and said, "Looks like I'll have to sit this dance out, too."

"Don't do _that! _Isn't there someone, _anyone, _you could go with as friends? After all," she said coyly, "I still owe you a dance from homecoming. That's a dance you can't collect unless you show up."

"The only other person I'd care to go with is Chloe, and asking her under these circumstances isn't fair to her. I can't ask her to do that."

Lana could have gone all day long without Clark mentioning Chloe's name in conjunction with a date, but she pressed on. "What if Chloe asks you? Would you go then?"

"Yeah, I think I would, though I'd still be worried about getting her hopes up."

"Look at it this way, Clark. I'm going with my second choice and if Chloe asks you, like I _think_ she will, you'll be going with your second choice. If not Chloe, well, you could always go stag."

Having accomplished as much as he could tonight, and with Lana not wanting to stay outside long enough to bring Nell out while she was with Clark, they mutually decided to head back to the house.

Clark stopped Lana after a couple of steps and asked, "Umm…Lana?"

"Yes, Clark?"

"Can I…can I hold your hand? Just over to the house?"

A warm smile enveloped Lana's face and she said, "Yes, Clark, you may hold my hand."

For the first time, Clark and Lana held hands as they walked back to the house, interlinking fingers…and hearts.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rejection

The walk over to the porch had been slow and silent. Neither Lana nor Clark wanted their time together to end, and both of them were thinking about what they had to get done.

Lana knew she had to officially break it off with Whitney, and do it soon, but she didn't want to hurt him any more than she had to. _How_ to do it was the question. She had never had a long-term boyfriend before and Nell liked Whitney so much, that asking her for advice was out of the question. Thoughts of Nell also made Lana's temper flare as she thought over how Nell had decided to interfere in her love life. She could see Nell stepping in if the guy she wanted was dangerous or something, but this was Clark, the nicest, sweetest, most considerate guy on the planet. What could be wrong with him?

As for Clark, he was thinking of ways he could attend the dance. After all, he _had _to collect that dance that Lana owed him. Asking Chloe was out because it would send her the wrong signal and he didn't know if he could slow down her view of their relationship fast enough to pull off a friend-friend date like she and Pete had done for homecoming back. If _she_ asked, he would say yes…maybe a counter-offer of going Dutch treat would send the right signal.

If Chloe didn't ask like Lana thought she would, maybe he could see if Pete's date, Erica Fox, had a friend that needed a date. Doubling with his best friend wasn't the best thing in the world, but it beat the heck out of going stag.

Finally reaching the front steps, Clark turned and took Lana's other hand, holding the fingers of both of her hands lightly. He glanced up at the house, half expecting to see Nell standing there, and said, "I think I'd better say goodbye here."

Knowing he wanted to avoid a replay of what happened at the end of the blood drive, Lana agreed. "Okay, but don't say 'goodbye.' That sounds too much like you're leaving me forever. I'm _definitely_ going to see you again, so just say, 'see you later.'"

Speaking cautiously, as though trying out the words for the first time, Clark said, "See you later, Lana."

Lana smiled. _Such a silly little thing to be pleased with, _she thought, _but all he ever does is try to make me happy._ "See you later, Clark. Thanks for asking me to the dance."

"My pleasure. Umm, I'll see you later."

Lana giggled and said, "You said that already, Clark."

"Oh. I guess I did."

With a stupid grin plastered to his face, Clark finally stepped back into the shadows and watched Lana enter the house. His eyes didn't leave her until the door closed with a soft 'click.' Then he turned, stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for home. He walked the whole way, and did so slowly, so he could take his time, savor the moment, and indelibly etch the memory of tonight into the deepest recesses of his mind.

Once Lana had closed the door, she headed to the stairs wanting nothing more than to write to Miss Lonely Hearts and tell her of this miraculous change of events. She was so happy that she had forgotten about Nell until she heard Nell call out and ask, "Did you enjoy yourself outside?"

_Oh yes, very much, _was Lana's first thought, but close on its heels was another, much less happy thought: _You! You lied to Clark and to me! _Lana whirled around and followed Nell's voice until finding her aunt in the kitchen, going over some bills.

"Nell? We need to talk."

Not looking up from her paperwork, Nell asked, "Can't this wait, Lana? I've got the bills from the shop to do tonight."

Lana stood there, fists on hips, not about to be denied. "No, Nell, I want to get this out of the way while I'm good and mad!"

Using a finger to keep her place, Nell looked up at Lana through the half-moon lenses of her reading glasses and asked, "Mad? Mad about what, Honey?"

"Care to tell me about 'no one' again?"

"Huh?"

"I happen to _like _'no one' a lot. He's very special to me. So the next time 'no one' comes over, I would appreciate it very much if you would tell me about it."

"What are you talking about?"

Lana didn't know if Nell was truly clueless tonight or if she was just playing, but Lana's temper got the best of her so she shouted, "CLARK KENT!" Nell jerked in surprise and scattered papers all over the floor. Giving up her paperwork as a lost cause, she finally gave Lana her undivided attention as Lana said, more calmly, "He's the 'no one' at the front door you wouldn't tell me about the day of the gas explosion. You know, the 'no one' that just saved my life…_again!"_

Nell had the good grace to blush at having been caught, but she couldn't understand why Lana was so worked up over a freshman farmboy, when she already had the most eligible guy in school. "But…what about _Whitney? _He's the kind of young man I've always envisioned you being with."

"What _about_ Whitney? Don't get me wrong, Nell, I like him a lot, but that's as far as it goes with him, and it's as far as it will _ever_ go with him." Then Lana got a dreamy look on her face and said, "But with Clark, I feel like _anything_ is possible."

"So, you're not dating Whitney anymore."

"Well…I still _am, _officially anyway. It's too late for me to back out on the Spring Formal, thanks to _you, _but after that I'll break up with him."

Nell sat back in her chair, took her glasses off, and rubbed at the sore spots they always left on the bridge of her nose. She took this time to think. _So, Lana wants Clark now instead of Whitney, does she? Well, what fifteen-year-old girl ever truly knows what she wants from one moment to the next anyway? Next week she'll be wanting Whitney back. Oh well, I tried to help her, but she has to make her own mistakes. _

"Okay, Lana. I'm sorry I lied to you about Clark the other day. I was just trying to help you."

Lana readily accepted the apology and quickly helped Nell pick up and reassemble her paperwork for the shop. Once the paperwork was back in order, Nell asked, "So tell me, Lana, when did this fascination with Clark begin?" Lana's answer was nothing Nell had been expecting.

"_Years_ ago for me…and probably longer than that for Clark. As kids, he always looked at me in a way that made me feel special, like there was no one else in the room but me. But he was so shy, that anytime I tried to talk to him, he'd get really nervous. Then he'd either fall down or get sick. Only this year has he finally worked up the nerve to talk to me, and we've already become really close friends. I can talk to him about anything and know he won't judge me or tell my secrets to anyone else. And when I look at him, well, I think he's just the handsomest guy _ever."_

"Okay. Well. If you're _sure _Clark's who you want, then I won't stand in your way any longer. Just be careful."

As the two women hugged, Lana said, dutifully, "I will, I promise."

Clark, meanwhile, was finishing his walk home. He headed in through the kitchen door to find his parents in light-hearted conversation as they ate warm apple pie ala mode and drank coffee. After enthusiastically greeting his parents, Clark headed into the living room to watch television, but he had no more than sat down before he was up again and heading back into the kitchen. He was just too excited to sit still.

"Son," Jonathan said, "where have you been? Your mother had a plate of leftovers ready for you an hour ago. We thought for sure you'd be wanting to eat as soon as you came home from the carnival grounds, but when I went out to the barn to get you, you were gone."

"Oh, sorry," Clark said sheepishly, "I forgot to tell you but I walked down to Lana's."

"Is she all right?" Martha asked worriedly.

"Yes, Mom. Lana's fine." _Oh God, is she ever!_ "I didn't go down there to ask about her health and mental well-being." Clark sucked in a big breath and then released half of it. "I went down there to ask Lana to be my date to the Spring Formal."

Jonathan and Martha exchanged incredulous looks. Martha had told him about Clark's intentions the other day, but when Clark had come home without even asking her out, they had thought he had changed his mind.

Turning back to his son, who was smiling like a loon, Jonathan asked, "Can I assume, from the circus clown grin on your face, that she said yes?"

"Nope. She turned me down."

Now they were really confused. Clark just got turned down by the girl of his dreams, and yet he looked happier than they could ever remember seeing him. They both thought, _What's wrong with this picture?_

As Clark microwaved his leftovers, Martha asked, "Would you care to explain that to us, Clark?"

Clark pulled the steaming plate out of the microwave and sat it on the table, having grabbed a flatware table-setting on the way. He wanted to enjoy the feeling of sharing this secret with Lana, and no one else, for just a little while longer, so he said, "Not really," and turned back their inquiring looks with a smug grin.

Two days later, Clark was mucking out the stalls in the barn when Chloe came walking in.

"Your mom told me you'd be out here," Chloe said, flashing a megawatt smile as she crossed the barn floor.

Clark turned from his work and lowered the tines of his pitchfork to the ground. As he walked over to where Chloe was standing, he said, "Hey, I haven't seen that smile in a week. What's up?"

Chloe stepped closer and said proudly, "Well, I've got good news. _The Daily Planet _called and I got an internship."

Truly excited for Chloe, Clark let go of the pitchfork with one arm to wrap her in a shoulder hug as he said, "That's great!"

"Yeah!"

"Wow," Clark said as he released the hug, "you didn't even have to interview."

"I know. Well, they read my article in the _Ledger _on the kidnapping cop, and I guess my work spoke for itself."

"Congratulations." Clark really meant it. It was great to see one of his closest friends taking the first step in her intended career.

"Thank you."

Looking for something more to say, Clark ventured, "So, I guess that means you'll spend the summer in Metropolis."

"Yeah…will you come visit me?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course! I would never pass up an opportunity to see you in your natural habitat."

After staring up into Clark's big, blue-green eyes for a few seconds, and wondering what thoughts were going on there, Chloe stammered out, "Well, I…I just wanted you to be the first to know, so, um, I'll see you. Bye."

Chloe gave him a little half wave and headed slowly for the open barn door. Clark just leaned on his pitchfork handle and sadly watched her go. He wished he could be what she wanted him to be, but right now, Lana was the one he wanted…and nothing Chloe wished would change that.

Chloe reached the doorway, and as if remembering something at the last minute, she turned back to face Clark. Curious to see what else she had to say, Clark's face perked up as he strained to catch whatever she said.

"Clark? I don't know how, but Ryan was right. I_ have_ picked out a pink dress and I do want to ask you to the dance." Drawing herself up to her full height, Chloe asked formally, "Clark? Will you go with me to the Spring Formal?"

Knowing he had to be very cautious, Clark thought over what he had come up with to say. "I'd like that, Chloe…with just one condition."

"What's that?"

Clark took a deep breath and said carefully, "That we go Dutch treat."

Chloe was crestfallen. Clark had said 'yes,' but in such a way as to give her no doubt that this was _not_ a date. All of her fragile, spun-sugar fantasies of how the dance would go had shattered into a million pieces. She felt like crying, but she was _damned_ if she was going to cry in front of Clark.

"Okay, Clark," she said weakly, "I guess I'll talk to you about it at school."

Grimacing slightly at the thought of the pain he _knew_ he was causing Chloe, Clark replied, "Sure thing, Chloe. I'll see you then."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Realization

A few days after Chloe asked Clark to the dance, Whitney surprised Lana by taking her out for a picnic. He wanted to thank her for staying with him through everything that had happened this year. She let him know that she would never abandon him when he needed her, but her next thought was, _Now that you're doing better, Whitney, I need to start living my own life again._

So when Whitney said, "There's something I want to tell you," and then started rummaging through his backpack, Lana panicked. She was afraid he was getting ready to up the ante in their relationship, and she needed to stop him before he said something that would require her to break his heart.

Waving the rose Whitney had just given her like she didn't quite know what to do with it, Lana said, "Whitney, you know, maybe we should…" Whitney finally found what he was looking for and handed her a carefully folded piece of paper. Looking cautiously at the paper once it was in her hands, Lana asked, "What's this?"

"Read it," Whitney replied.

After a quick glance, Lana's surprised question was, "United States Marine Corps?"

Whitney's face was filled with pride as he said, "I enlisted." Lana was shocked, and was having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Seeing that, Whitney pressed on. "I think it's the right thing for me to do…when I found my dad's medals, I felt he was telling me which path I should take."

"You can't do this for your _father."_

"I'm not. I'm doing it for us."

Lana's eyes opened wide as she refocused on Whitney. That statement of his was getting close to what Lana feared: Whitney saw them as having long-term possibilities together.

"Please, don't be mad," Whitney said, placatingly.

Flustered, Lana looked back down at Whitney's enlistment papers and replied, "It's just so fast. You know? I need some time to process it."

While Lana tried to think of something more to say, Whitney jumped in and said, "I don't have a lot of time." Lana looked back at Whitney, wondering what he could mean. "I ship out for basic training right after graduation."

Lana was getting visibly upset. This was affecting her more than she would have thought it would.

As earnest as can be, Whitney said, "The only thing I'm gonna miss in Smallville…is you." He gathered himself and then came to the main point of this show and tell. "Will you wait for me?"

Lana knew it was time, she couldn't let Whitney go on thinking there was something between them any longer. Steeling herself for the distasteful task, Lana said, "No, Whitney. I can't wait for you. It's too early for me to be making a decision like that. I'm only fifteen and you're asking for a commitment that would take me clear into college…" Lana looked away for a second, gathering the strength to tell him the rest, and the composure to let him down easy. Returning her gaze to his eyes, she added, "…besides, I don't feel the same way about you that you seem to feel about me. I'm sorry, Whitney, but that's the way it is."

Whitney had known Lana might not react well to his enlistment, but _this _was more than he'd bargained for. He felt like he'd just taken a blow to the solar plexus. He definitely couldn't speak. Even a simple task like breathing was almost beyond him right now.

Lana waited patiently as it was now Whitney's turn to need some time to do some processing. Finally, he asked, "So, are you breaking up with me?"

"Umm…yeah," Lana said reluctantly. "It's not that I don't like you, I really _do,_ but…I don't love you and I don't think I ever will."

They spent the rest of their time together talking. Even though he had just been dumped, Whitney still wanted to go to the dance with Lana for old times' sake. Besides, he already had the tickets and the photo package paid for. Lana was happy to be his escort. She wanted to try to make his last school social event a memorable one.

The next day was Monday and Clark learned after school from Chloe that her dad was seriously considering moving them back to Metropolis in the aftermath of the abrupt closing of the LuthorCorp plant. Clark had offered to allow Chloe to back out of their 'friends date' to the Spring Formal, but she wouldn't hear of it.

Truth to tell, Chloe _had_ thought about canceling, but even knowing Clark still didn't quite feel about her the way she felt about him, the fact that they were going to the dance together _was_ a definite improvement over the way things had been between them, and Chloe knew she wasn't the type to give up easily, so she decided to go through with it.

Later that night, Clark was wandering the streets of Smallville, thinking about Chloe's announcement. While he didn't want to date her, she_ was_ one of his closest friends. True friends were rare and thus very precious to him. Right now, that list had three names on it: Lana, Pete, and Chloe. Losing one-third of his inner circle wasn't something he wanted to contemplate. Subconsciously looking for comfort, Clark ended up at the Talon where Lana had the late shift.

Seeing Clark's rugged body leaning against a wooden doorframe, Lana straightened up from wiping down a table and said, "Clark, out wandering the streets of Smallville?" She could tell he was distracted by something as he walked toward her. "What is it?"

"I just found out that Chloe might be leaving for good," Clark replied as he walked over to the stairs and sat down. "I'm not sure I really believe it's true."

Lana followed him over, sat on a comfy loveseat, and said, "I know what you mean."

"You do?"

Lana searched for the right words before finally saying, "Whitney's going off to join the Marines."

Taken aback, Clark said, "That's intense."

"He told me he was doing it for us…asked if I'd wait for him."

Even though he thought he knew she liked him, Clark's heart was in his throat as he asked, "Really? What did you say?"

Looking up at the new guy in her life, Lana said, "I told him I was too young to make that kind of commitment…and then, I told him that I don't feel the same way about him that he feels about me." Lana shrugged her shoulders, "Finally, we broke up."

"It's weird," Lana added. "One day he's worried about his English paper and the next he's putting on a uniform and saving the world."

"When's he head out?"

"The day after graduation. I think he's in a hurry to get started on the next phase of his life."

"Are you two still going to the dance together?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, we decided to go as friends…just like you and Chloe." Lana thought about the fact that both of their dates were moving away and said, "I can't believe that both Whitney and Chloe are going to be out of our lives."

"Me neither."

"I guess we get left behind, Clark."

The next day after school, Clark skipped out on the Torch because he had a lot to do at home in addition to his normal homework load. He knew his dad needed him to start work on putting in a new fence and he also needed to handle his Miss Lonely Hearts duties.

When he got home, Jonathan hadn't come back from the lumberyard with the posts and rails, so Clark headed up to the loft to once again become Miss Lonely Hearts. By now, he was much more comfortable with this job. It had almost become a routine, but he always gave his best effort when it came time to answer the letters. He felt the girls deserved nothing less. Going through the letters one by one, Clark came upon another letter from "Lonesome Lori." Always eager to hear from her, Clark settled in to read.

Dear Miss Lonely Hearts,

I'm so excited that I hardly know where to start. Miracle of miracles, Corey's mine!

He came over tonight and asked me to the Spring Formal, right out of the blue. I thought he was still going after Carol, so I had given up hope, but he changed his mind.

I've always said that 'Corey's not always there when you want him, but he's always there when you need him,' and it's true. Now that I need him, he's come through for me again.

Thank you for all your advice, Miss Lonely Hearts, you've helped me realize that Corey is the guy I really needed to be with. I wish I could meet you just once so I could say 'Thank you,' but I guess this letter will have to do.

Yours,

Lonesome Lori

Clark was in a mild panic. When the letter mentioned that 'Corey' had come over to ask 'Lori' to the dance, he had started to wonder, but when she mentioned the bit about 'Corey' always being there when she needed him, the realization that he was a moron hit him like a ton of bricks. 'Lonesome Lori' was actually _Lana!_

Clark rapidly went through each of 'Lori's' letters, looking for clues he might have missed. He slowly beat his forehead against his desk when he saw how clear the parallels were between the Will-Lori-Corey triangle and the triangle between Whitney, Lana, and himself. Clark was berating himself. _The names even start with the same letters!_ _How stupid can I be?_

And then her second letter, where she's was all broken up over the fact that he was going after Chloe, should have been enough to clue anyone in. _Anyone, _Clark thought bitterly, _except for the most clueless guy in the universe._

Knowing those letters were from Lana, Clark opened up the rings in the pink folder and took them out. Her letters were then carefully stored in his desk. _Those are love letters of a sort, _Clark thought, _and I want to keep them._

Once the letters were secured, Clark thought back to what they said. This time, he smiled to know that Lana felt the same way about him that he felt about her. _It makes everything so much easier for me, _Clark thought._ I don't have to worry about rejection. _Then, Clark considered his next step. _Since Lana poured her heart out to me, it's only fair that I return the favor. She deserves to know exactly how I feel about her. Maybe I can write a love letter to her._

His duties as Miss Lonely Hearts temporarily forgotten, Clark worked on that first love letter until his dad showed up with the load of lumber.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - The Dance

Clark and Chloe made their way to the dance in Chloe's vintage red Ford Falcon due to the fact that Clark's truck had exploded while he was working on the new fence. They looked resplendent, with Chloe in her dark pink faux Vera Wang strapless gown and Clark in a black tuxedo with black tie and cummerbund.

They hurried to get inside the school building, as the wind from the approaching storm front was really beginning to pick up. Once inside, they met Pete and his date Erica. When Pete asked Chloe to take their picture, Clark leaned back against the wall and watched. Just at that moment, Whitney and Lana came scurrying in. Whitney, like Pete, was dressed in a black tux with a red tie and cummerbund. But it was Lana that commanded Clark's full attention. She looked glorious in a blood-red spaghetti-strapped dress that ended at her knees. Clark had been taken completely by surprise and could not stop staring at her as she and Whitney walked up to say hello.

"Hi, Clark," Lana said cheerily. "You look nice tonight."

Before Clark could manage to come up with a reply, Chloe saw Lana and dragged her off so Pete could take a picture of them.

Whitney stayed back with Clark and sized up the guy he had seen as his main competition for Lana all year. Finally, he said, "Hey, Clark, I'm glad you could make it to this dance."

"Yeah, me too," Clark replied, "though that _is_ a lot easier when I'm not tied up like a scarecrow."

"Listen, Clark. About that. You and I have had a weird year. I started out thinking you just wanted to steal Lana. I'm not trying to make excuses, but, I did some things I'm not proud of." Holding his hand out, Whitney said, "I'm sorry, Clark."

Clark could hear the sincerity in Whitney's voice, so he clasped Whitney's hand, and, as he shook it, said, "I appreciate that."

The girls made their way back to their dates, and seeing the handshake, wondered what that was all about. Using different words but meaning the same thing, the guys took their dates by the arm and, as they led them to the gymnasium, said roughly, "Nothing much, just guy talk."

Lex had originally planned to have Remy Zero play as live entertainment, but they had to bow out the day before when their singer came down with laryngitis. Ever resourceful, as only the truly wealthy can be, Lex immediately arranged for the top DJ in Metropolis to take Remy Zero's place and had the man's equipment trucked to Smallville and installed in plenty of time.

When the newcomers entered the gym, the music was already going and the students were dancing to a pulsating beat. The guy would play anything, from House to Techno, from Alternative Rock to Country. Anything went as long as it was danceable.

The guys were looking for their friends and for the refreshment tables, but the girls pulled them out onto the floor for some brisk-paced dancing. A few songs later, Chloe and Clark left the dance floor to get some punch and talk to friends. Clark saw Lana chatting animatedly a few feet away. She felt someone's eyes on her and looked around slowly, smiling when she saw Clark.

Clark's hand involuntarily pressed up against the outside of his tuxedo jacket, feeling for the reassuring presence of the white envelope that was stashed there. Inside that envelope was a letter that he planned on giving to Lana tonight, a letter that would tell her everything he thought and most importantly, everything he _felt_ about her.

The next hour was one of exquisite torture for Clark and Lana. They were attentive to their dates, but were always on the lookout for a momentary glance and a quick smile before moving on. Finally, Clark slid next to Lana as she stood by the punch bowl and said, "Make sure you're free for the next song."

Playing dumb, Lana asked, "Why would I ever want to do that, Clark?"

"Because, Lex told the DJ that I would be asking for a special song and that it would be worth his while to honor my request. I just went up and asked, and the song, my song, and hopefully _our_ song, is up next. So I'm coming to collect that dance you owe me."

Whatever Lana had been thinking about before that moment went straight out the window. All she could think about now was her Prince Charming…even if their budding relationship _was_ still on the sly right now.

When the fast-paced song currently being played ended, Clark walked up to Lana on cue, held out his hand, and asked, "Lana, may I have this next dance?"

Even though this was all pre-arranged, there was still an element of fear in his eyes that Lana could plainly see. She found that to be endearing, and she replied, "I thought you'd never ask." Linking hands, they walked onto the dance floor with Clark using his larger body to clear a path for her. Once they reached a somewhat-open piece of the dance floor, they turned to face each other, and months of anticipation came to a head.

Clark's strong, sure farmer's hands, hands that always seemed to know what they were doing, were confounded when presented with Lana's petite red-clad body. He felt like nothing more than a fumble-fingered little boy in her presence. Lana took pity on him as the music started, placing his right hand on her waist, and placing her right hand in his left one as her left hand snaked up his right bicep to rest on his shoulder. The song was slow and soft, and Lana recognized it immediately. Clark had asked for "Everything" by Lifehouse.

As the song worked it's way through the first verse, Clark and Lana were in their own little world. Their eyes had fused, jade green to hazel, as they took the first tentative steps of their new relationship.

Clark had a small confession to make as they danced. "You know, Lana, this is the second time we've danced to this song."

"Huh?"

"I'm not kidding. We danced to this song in my loft on the night of Homecoming after I wasn't able to get to the dance on time. You saved a dance for me and came up to see that I got it." Seeing the slight confusion in her eyes, Clark then added, "Of course, that was all in my mind while I heard you get dropped off at home after the Homecoming dance was over."

"Oh," Lana said dreamily, "it sounds like you have the best imagination."

"Not really. My wildest dreams are only pale shadows of what I'm feeling right now."

As they continued to circle slowly, Lana replied, "I think you're right. Wishes and dreams are only second best."

As the song progressed, they pulled each other close, Lana nestled her head onto the front of Clark's shoulder, and Clark adjusted his grip, wrapping his right arm completely around Lana's back in an subconscious statement of possession.

They weren't the only ones focused on their dance. Both Chloe and Whitney were watching intently and after less than half a song, they both came to the same conclusion: whatever that indefinable 'it' is, Clark and Lana have 'it,' and they have 'it' in spades.

Whitney just kind of shook his head. _Here's another reason Lana dumped me, _he thought._ She looks at Clark in a way that she has __**never **__looked at me before. _He thought he ought to be mad, but curiously, he wasn't. He knew that while Lana had been there for him during his father's long illness, Clark had been there for her. He had been her boyfriend in all but name, and now, it appeared he was adding the name.

Besides, Whitney realized Lana was right. It had been selfish of him to want a high school freshman to make the most important decision of her life. Maybe he'd come back after his five-year commitment was up and see if she was still the girl he wanted. They might both be drastically different by then.

Chloe was less willing to let Clark go, but even she couldn't fight what was right in front of her face. She teared up, knowing that she would have to wait in line behind Lana once again.

When the dance finally ended, Lana's head stayed on Clark's shoulder and he was in no hurry to get rid of her. Other couples moved around them, but they just stayed in place. The DJ was taking a ten minute break, but neither Clark nor Lana knew or cared. Eventually, Lana raised her head and pulled back just enough to see Clark's eyes again.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asked, her mind trapped by the sparkling jade of his eyes.

Clark was just as caught as she was. Her hazel irises held him spellbound as he said, "I don't know, but I like it."

Not only were they not moving away from each other, but, almost imperceptibly, they were edging closer. Bit by bit, they moved in until one person's breath out was the other's breath in. Their eyes fluttered closed, and their breaths were shallow and ragged in anticipation of their first kiss. They weren't disappointed.

It was soft, warm, and sweet with just a hint of passion. It lingered long enough to satiate their immediate hunger, but was short enough to leave them plenty to explore in the future. When they came up for air, Clark finally led Lana to the side where they took a pair of seats as far from everyone else as Clark could manage.

"What are we doing over here, Clark?"

Fear of Lana's possible reaction to what he was about to say caused Clark's heart to try and hammer its way out of his chest. He was surprised she wasn't able to hear its pounding from where she was sitting.

"There's something I need to confess to you, and I need to do it tonight."

Curious, but sure Clark hadn't done anything bad, Lana asked, "What?"

"Umm…_well,_ Corey likes Lori just as much as she likes him."

"Run that by me again, please?"

Lana was sure she had heard correctly, but couldn't _believe_ that Miss Lonely Hearts would've told Clark if she had figured out who Lori was…unless Miss Lonely Hearts was Chloe, but then, Chloe would've told her to forget about 'Corey' and stick with 'Will.'

"Please don't get mad until I explain everything," Clark begged, "but, uh, I am Miss Lonely Hearts."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Tempest

Clark quickly sketched out the story of how he had been snookered into taking the job in the first place. As intended, that part of the story got Lana giggling as she imagined Kwan playing off of Clark's need to help people.

"He must have been desperate," Lana said.

Clark smiled slightly, "He _did_ say he'd already asked, and been turned down by, seven different people. He claimed I was his last hope."

"Sucker!"

"Yeah, I came to that conclusion myself." Becoming more nervous as he approached the part of this that dealt with Lana, Clark began shifting in his seat, and said, "But I think I've done a pretty good job as Miss Lonely Hearts for a freshman _guy_ that's never had a girlfriend before."

"Not until now, anyway," Lana said warmly as she took his hand. "And yes, you did a great job. You managed to get us together."

"Umm…but that wasn't my goal, Lana, at least not with my column. This is what I really wanted to tell you. I didn't know you were Lonesome Lori until I got the letter that thanked me for advising you. Once I knew, I was able to go back to your other letters and see obvious clues that I had missed. I guess I never expected _you _to be writing in to me."

"I was confused. I needed help, and as always, you came through for me."

"Well, I always tried my best; girls were writing in to me with their deepest hopes and fears. That pink folder can be a heavy weight sometimes."

"Pink folder?" Lana asked. "As in, the pink folder that was on your loft couch that one time? And those crinkled pen pal letters were actually letters to Miss Lonely Hearts?"

"Uhh…yeah," Clark admitted, "but I didn't lie to you about that. I even told you that they were letters. You're the one that thought up the pen pal story; I just let you run with it."

Lana thought that the only thing that bothered her about this situation, even a little bit, was that she had told Miss Lonely Hearts virtually everything. Thus, she had told _Clark_ virtually everything. She felt emotionally exposed every time he looked at her, but before she could say anything about it, Clark pulled a creamy white envelope out of his jacket.

"You've told me all about how you feel about me," Clark said, "and it gives me a wonderful warmth and security to _know _that you like me that much. So I thought it was only fair that _you _know exactly how I feel about you." He handed the envelope to her and said, "That's it. My love letter to you. _Everything_ that I feel for and about you is in there. By the time you're done reading it, you'll either run away screaming, or you'll have the same warm and secure feeling that I have."

She turned the envelope over in her hands, wondering if Clark knew just how much courage he had just shown. She had exposed her thoughts to him unknowingly and had just been regretting it, but he was _choosing _to do so. As for the letter itself, Lana desperately wanted to read it, but she wouldn't do so here. This was something she wanted to read curled up in bed, where she'd have the time to reread favorite passages and luxuriate in her feelings. She had a feeling this would be a red-letter day in her diary.

When the DJ returned from his break, he winked at Clark and started the next song. Lana and Clark reluctantly returned to their dates for the evening, parting with one last peck on the lips. Lana immediately found the table where she had set down her clutch purse and placed the envelope inside.

Clark dutifully spent most of his time with Chloe, but soon noticed she was being emotionally distant and her laughter seemed to be forced. Lana stayed for a while also, but hanging out with Whitney and his friends while she watched Clark dance with Chloe soon became too much for her to handle.

She pulled Whitney aside and asked, "Would you please take me home?"

"Why? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, I just don't want to be here anymore."

Whitney thought he'd been a good guy tonight, not once mentioning what he'd seen between Lana and Clark, but Lana wanting to cut his last big school event short was more than he was able to handle.

"Then I can't help you, Lana," Whitney said. "This is my last big thing before the Marines. You know the school rules. If I leave to take you home, the administrators won't let me back into the building." A little bitterness began to seep out of Whitney. "But if you're so set on leaving, why don't you ask Clark? I'm _sure_ he'd fall all over himself to help you."

Lana's eyes popped wide open when she knew she had been caught.

"I'm not mad, Lana. Not really. But I wish you would have told me about you and Clark instead of me finding out here in front of everybody. That was kind of humiliating."

"I'm sorry, Whitney. You deserved better than that. I just didn't know how you'd react and I got scared. Will you forgive me?"

Not wanting to part on bad terms, Whitney said, "Of course, Lana, refusing you is hard for me to do."

Lana thought of another way for her to leave. "Since you won't take me home, can I borrow your truck and drive myself?"

Whitney thought about it for a bit and then handed her his keys. "Here you go. I'll bum a ride tonight and come by tomorrow before I leave to pick it up."

Lana made one stop on her way out of the gym. She found Clark and pulled him aside long enough to tell him she was leaving. When he expressed concern, she said, "I'm fine, Clark, in fact, I'll come over to your house tomorrow morning and we can go do something."

Clark's frown turned into a smile as he said, "Good b…I mean, I'll see you tomorrow, Lana."

"See ya, Clark." Lana chuckled at what she knew had been an intentional slip by Clark. As she turned and left the gym, heading out into the menacing storm, she could feel a set of eyes on her all the way to the door. She didn't need to look around this time to know it was Clark.

Minutes later, Lana began to feel she had made a grave mistake by leaving the dance. The wind, which had been strong when she left the school grounds, had kept increasing in strength, and then three small tornados had formed close together. She was heading down Kansas Highway 90, trying to make it to her home and the safety of her storm cellar, but she was so busy watching the approaching tornados that she didn't see the flying mailbox before it smacked into the windshield of the truck. Lana was startled, and in her attempt at shaking the mailbox loose, she drove into a deep drainage ditch. Unable to restart the truck, Lana got out and watched as the three small tornados combined into one monstrosity. It seemed to be heading straight for her and she had nowhere to hide.

Back at the dance, an administrator had just quieted the music and informed the hushed crowd about the tornados on the south side of town. Clark was panic stricken. He knew Lana had just driven in that direction, and hadn't had enough time to get home. Chloe didn't want him to worry, so she was going to call Lana and make sure she was safe, but Clark disappeared the second she turned around.

Lana climbed back into the truck and locked the door with the wind howling around her. _Great, _she thought, _the one time I need Clark the most, and he's on the other side of town. _Lana thought she was going to die, so she grabbed Clark's letter and ripped it open, determined to spend her last moments reading about his feelings for her. She couldn't think of a better way to go. The letter was handwritten on two sheets of thick, expensive paper. Despite her dangerous situation, Lana couldn't help but be impressed with his style.

Dearest Lana,

I love you.

I know it's too early in our relationship for me to say that, but it's the truth, and I promised to tell you everything I feel about you.

I love you.

Saying it once just isn't enough for me. I've been in love with you since I was five years old, since before I was old enough to know what love was. I've been waiting ten years to tell you how I feel about you and now that I've started, I can't stop.

I love you.

The gentle sound of your voice, the radiant warmth of your smile, the glossy sheen of your strawberry-scented hair, all of these small perfections are endearing, but what I love is you.

I love the girl that introduced me to her parents in a fog-shrouded graveyard and calmed my fears.

I love the girl that loves to curl up with a Russian classic to while away the hours.

I love the girl that saved the place her parents met at from the wrecking ball and turned it into the most popular hangout in town.

I love the girl that cares so much about her fellow man that she chaired the blood drive this year.

But most of all, I love the girl that has trusted me this year by opening up and showing to me a side of herself that few are ever privileged enough to know.

She's the girl I want to be with.

She's you, and I love you.

Love Always,

Clark.

Lana read that letter as fast as she could, and well before she reached the end, the tears were flowing down her face as she thought, _What a guy! And now I'll never get to know him. _

As Lana read the last few words, and waited bravely for the tornado to strike, she saw Clark at the front of the truck and then felt like she had stepped into the Twilight Zone as Clark dipped down, grabbed onto the mangled front bumper, and lifted the entire truck into the air. Before she was able to scream his name in fear, surprise, or love, Lana found herself on the other side of town with the truck being carefully lowered into another ditch.

Lana was stunned, to put it mildly, as Clark helped her from the damaged truck. Seeing no point in trying to hide his abilities after that performance, Clark waited for Lana to carefully place her love letter back in her clutch purse before picking her up in his arms.

"Are you ready to go?" Clark asked.

"I think so."

"Then hold on tight, it's about to get windy."

With that, they disappeared in a blur, as Clark took her home. Seconds later, she was on her front porch. The tornado had come close to her aunt's farmhouse, but hadn't done anything more than break a few tree branches.

As Lana caught her breath, her brain raced to make some sense out of what had just happened. Questions piled up in her mind. Questions only Clark could answer. _How did he do that? Did he get his ability from meteor rocks? _

Before Lana could sort out her questions and begin asking them, Clark said, "I know you want to ask me about what just happened, Lana, and I don't blame you. I didn't mean for you to find out like this. I just told you everything in my heart, and now…I'm afraid you'll reject me."

Lana quit thinking about what she wanted to know when she heard the quaver in his voice. Instead, she took a long look at Clark and realized, _My God, he's terrified! He's just given me the most amazing letter, saved my life at great risk to his own, and selflessly exposed his biggest secret to me in the process. Yet he's scared I won't want him._ Lana shook her head slightly in disbelief. _When in reality, I'm afraid I want him too much. If it wasn't for the disaster, I might not be able to keep my hands off him…I've got to say something!_

Lana took his hands in hers, as much to keep him from running off as to comfort him, and said, "Clark, there's something I need you to know." Seeing he was afraid to answer, Lana went on. "From the first moment that I saw you, I _knew _that no one could make me happier than you."

Lana then used her hold on Clark's hands to pull him into a kiss. This one was harder, stronger, longer, and more desperate as each thought about what they had almost lost. Breaths came in short gasps until Clark finally broke the passionate kiss with a shuddering moan.

"So, I take it you don't hate me?" Clark asked.

"No. Whatever you have to tell me, you're still Clark, the same handsome guy I've always known. But the telling can wait, you have a family out there to find. Now go!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Next Day

Sleep was hard to come by that night for both Clark and Lana, but for different reasons. Lying on top of his bed, wearing nothing but drawstring pajama bottoms, Clark had a lot on his mind. Even after spending most of the night searching at super-speed, his dad was still missing, along with that slime from the Inquisitor, Roger Nixon. Clark's worry about his dad's safety grew by the minute, and when his thoughts managed to escape _that_ terror, they latched onto the idea that his secrets might be about to go nationwide.

In an attempt to soothe his mind, Clark forced himself to focus on the one part of his day that had gone right…the dance and Lana. He wasn't aware of it, but just thinking of her managed to bring a smile to his face and slow his heart rate a bit. Lana was the one person he _wanted_ to know all about him, and if everything went right, by tomorrow night, she would. Clark finally drifted off to a fitful sleep somewhere around 3 a.m. and was back up early to zip through his chores so he could go out again and search for his father as soon as there was decent light.

Lana, on the other hand, assumed both of the Kents were all right. After all, _Clark _was the one out there looking for them and he hadn't called to say they were hurt or missing, so after calling the Talon to make sure the coffeehouse had survived the storm, Lana gave Nell a quick run-through of the dance and headed up to her bedroom a little bit early. _There's no way I can explain the accident right now, _Lana thought.

Lana got ready for bed so she could do some much-anticipated reading. She undressed and pulled on a white cotton nightie, thoroughly brushed her hair, fluffed her pillows, and propped them against the bed's headboard. She had already turned down the sheet and coverlet, had her love letter from Clark in hand and was about to climb in when she remembered one more thing, her diary. So she pulled the diary out of its hiding place and grabbed a red pen from her desk before making herself a nest in the mound of pillows she had stacked up.

All of Lana's preparations had been for this: to reread that amazing love letter, to bask in the way it had made her feel. But now that the moment was upon her, she hesitated. _I'm half afraid the words have changed, or that…that __**somehow**__ I read them wrong earlier today.__ Maybe my __fevered imagination got away from me and put things in that letter that weren't there. _

Lana stared at the neatly folded letter in her hand, and said softly, "Well, Girl, there's only one way to find out. Open it." With one eye firmly shut and the other open the tiniest of cracks, Lana carefully unfolded the letter. A moment's review was all she needed. And then…bliss, joy, rapture, ecstasy, euphoria. What she felt was all of that and more. _It's true, _she thought, _it's true, oh God, it's true_. _Clark __**does**__ love me._

Finding out she hadn't imagined Clark's words was almost as good as reading them the first time. After that, Lana settled in for a lengthy, word-by-word reread of the letter, fully intending to savor her emotions this time. She didn't stop at reading that letter once, or even twice. Lana read that letter three times before setting it aside long enough to grab her pen and diary and write a long entry all in red ink. _A red-letter day indeed, _she thought. _Everything from our dance to that impossible rescue is getting the red letter treatment today._

Just before turning out her room light and going to sleep, Lana returned her diary to its hiding place and then safely tucked her precious letter inside the lead box that Clark had given her to use for storing her meteor rock necklace. _After all, _Lana thought, _Clark __**did**__ give it to me to protect my memories._

The next morning, Clark dressed himself in a blue, white and black plaid shirt and jeans and went out with the search and rescue team as they combed the farm for any sign of Jonathan. When they didn't find anything, Clark became frantic. He wanted to rush back out to spend some more time searching _his _way, but Martha knew he'd already covered most of Lowell County the night before with no luck, so she dragged him with her when she drove into town. The Talon, which had become the impromptu command center for the search and rescue teams as soon as Lex and Lana had offered it, was her destination. She needed to post a picture of Jonathan on the board of those who were still missing and they both wanted to be able to get any information as soon as it came in.

Once there, one of the first people Clark met was Lana. She was decked out in a long-sleeved light blue blouse and white jeans. Her hair was pinned up on the sides to keep it out of her face while she worked. Seeing her very own Cyrano de Bergerac walk in made her face light up like the noonday sun. She set a tray of muffins down on the counter and rushed over to greet him. Lana already knew the searchers had headed out to the Kent farm early in the morning, so she knew Jonathan had been missing, but she didn't know if he had been found. That uncertainty was the only thing keeping her from locking him in a warm embrace and then kissing him for all the world to see. She wanted _everyone_ to know about the new guy in her life, but right now, other things were more important. Clark's dad was missing, and he needed her support.

"Clark, any luck finding your Dad?" Lana asked. _What is it about my boyfriends' fathers anyway? Dating me ought to come with a warning label: If you date Lana Lang, it could be hazardous to your father's health._

"We looked all night," Clark replied. In his current agitated state, Clark started talking faster and faster. "The search and rescue team combed the farm this morning, but they didn't find anything either. I…I don't know what to do. He's been missing for over twelve hours…"

Lana reached out a slender hand and placed it on Clark's shoulder to get him to stop rambling and look at her. She had a lot of practice at being reassuring these days and she put it to good use here. "They'll find him, Clark. I know it."

"Thanks."

Using some sixth sense that only mothers have, Martha had just looked up at her son from across the room and had seen how uptight he was. But then, all it took was a touch on the arm and some soft words from Lana, and he calmed down instantly. _What's going on there? _Martha wondered. _Clark hasn't said anything to me, but it sure __**looks**__ like they're more than friends._

"Umm, Lana?" Clark asked. "Shouldn't you be home resting right now?"

Gesturing at the activity going on around them, Lana said, "I wanted to help. A lot of people helped me out after the meteor shower. It meant a lot."

"I'm just glad I was able to get to you in time. You were seconds away from becoming the second girl in Kansas history to go somewhere over the rainbow."

"I know what I saw, and what I felt, but what I want to know is…how did it happen?"

The earnest look in Lana's hazel eyes would have been impossible for him to resist, except he didn't plan on resisting. He wanted her to know all about him, and since she was looking at him the same way today as she had been last night, he felt he could try.

Clark had made the decision to tell Lana about his extra-terrestrial origin last night while searching for his dad. He had begun by wondering what it would be like for him if Lana had been sucked up by that tornado. The thought of her near-death made him realize that there are no guarantees in life, so if he wanted her, he had better man up and let her decide for herself if she would like to pursue a relationship with the guy next door who just happens to be a super-powered alien.

"Do you really want to know?" Clark asked.

"Yes, Clark. I want to know all about you."

Feeling he needed to give her one chance to change her mind and back out, Clark said, "Be sure about this, because the things you learn may be difficult to accept."

Lana stepped in close, taking his hands in hers, and said, "Please, Clark. I've always known you were different, just not_ how_ different. Let me know you."

"Okay, I will. Once the tornado crisis is over, come by the house some night when you're free and I'll tell you everything."

Lana's face shone with the brilliance of her smile, but as she started to say something in reply, Martha made her way over to them, saying, "Clark, there's no new word."

Clark and Lana shared the same thought, _You had to interrupt us for that?_ Lana then noticed she had been talking with Clark longer than she had intended, so she regretfully made her excuses and got back to work.

As Lana turned to walk away, Clark said, "Lana? Do you still have that lead box I gave you?"

Puzzled, she asked, "Yeah, I do, and my meteor rock necklace is still inside of it." _Along with something else that is precious to me._

"Good. When you come over for your explanation, bring the box and the necklace. This story requires both of them."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Setting the Stage

Hearing what Clark had just said to Lana, Martha turned back to face her son with a shocked look on her face. "You don't actually mean to tell Lana _everything _do you?"

"Yes, Mom. In case you haven't noticed, Lana and I are dating now. She has the right to know exactly who she's getting involved with." Clark paused and looked away from Martha briefly before returning his gaze to her. "Besides, if Lana and I are going to get involved, I need to know _now,_ before we get too deep, if Lana can handle who and what I am. I don't think I could handle it if we got super-close and then she learned everything and _then_ rejected me."

Rubbing one hand on Clark's back to relax him, Martha said, "Okay, I see your point. Just do one thing for me."

"What?"

"Be sure she's someone you can trust with your life before you tell her, because that's exactly what you're doing when you tell her this secret."

"I do trust her, Mom. After all, I'm already trusting her with my heart and that's much more fragile than my life."

After that, their thoughts turned to Jonathan. Martha stayed at the Talon to work the phone bank while Clark returned to the farm to begin searching all over again. At the farm, he met Lex, who apologized for not informing him about Roger Nixon and who also had something to help narrow the search: a map of cell phone towers around Smallville and the areas they serve. Since only one tower survived the storm, that drastically cut down the area that needed to be searched.

Clark thanked Lex for his help and called in some reinforcements in the form of Pete and Chloe. With such a small area to cover, he wanted to go slowly and bring his other abilities into play. Having Chloe and Pete along gave him two extra sets of eyes and brains. Clark figured he'd need all the help he could get. During the search, Clark apologized to Chloe for running out on her at the dance the night before.

"Uh, Chloe?" Once he had her attention, Clark added, "I've been wanting to apologize for leaving you at the formal."

"Oh! Didn't I tell you that leaving in the middle of a tornado to save a friend _totally _gets you off the hook? Besides, I know you'd do the same thing for me. I mean, you've done that once for me already."

"Huh?"

"Sean Kelvin?"

"Oh yeah."

Clark remembered that night clearly. Now that he thought about it, the parallels to his situation from last night were kind of eerie. In both cases, he had been on a first date of sorts and had left the girl he was with to save the life of the other. The next part of the conversation wasn't something he was looking forward to, but Chloe deserved to hear it from him.

"There's one difference in the two cases, Chloe," Clark said nervously as they walked side by side.

"What's that?"

"When I saved you from Sean, I was saving one of my closest friends. When I went after Lana last night…I was going after my girlfriend."

Chloe had seen the evidence the night before at the dance, so this wasn't too much of a shock, but that didn't make it hurt any less. The guy that she had loved from afar would remain out of her reach. It didn't seem fair to her, but life wasn't about being fair, so Chloe decided to repay his honesty with her own.

"I know, Clark. Anyone that saw you two dancing together last night knows. You two just…_fit. _I'm not going to pretend I'm not hurt, but I'm a big girl and I'll get over it. Individually, you and Lana are two of my closest friends and I wouldn't want to lose either of you over this."

While Clark was dealing with Chloe, Whitney walked across the street from his family's store to talk to Lana. She was taking a short break for lunch when he came in, so she pointed him to the seat across from her while she dug into her ham and swiss croissant sandwich.

After they exchanged pleasantries, Whitney said, "I know you don't have much time for yourself today, Lana, but I had Mom drive me to your house this morning to get my truck and it wasn't there. I figured you had driven it to work, but it's not here either. Umm, Lana…where _is _it?"

"I…I had a wreck."

"Are you okay?" Whitney was surprised but quickly gathered his wits. "Sorry, stupid question. If you're here, you're obviously okay. So…what happened?"

Lana wasn't sure just how much she could tell and still protect Clark, so she was picking her way carefully through what happened. "I was driving home, when I saw the tornadoes, so I tried to avoid them. I was paying so much attention to the tornadoes, that I didn't notice the flying mailbox until it hit the windshield." Whitney scrunched his shoulders in sympathy as he imagined the impact. "When I swerved to try and shake the mailbox loose, I drove into a ditch."

"What road is the truck on?" Whitney asked.

"Oh…I managed to get someone to move it last night. I'll have it taken to any body shop you want, just call me and I'll get it taken care of."

"Okay, Lana. Thanks. I'll call you later after Mom talks to the insurance agent."

In reality, Lana had no idea where the truck was. It had been in a ditch outside the north end of town when she had last seen it, but Clark might have moved it again later since it would be hard for her to explain what she was doing on the wrong end of town. All she knew was, she had to talk to Clark as soon as possible.

Late that afternoon, after Clark had rescued Jonathan and Nixon only to need to be rescued in turn by Lex and his gun, the two Kent men were making some hasty repairs to the farm. Martha had told Jonathan about Clark's intention to tell Lana everything and Jonathan had been waiting for a good time to bring it up. Sure that nightfall would bring a visit from Lana, Jonathan decided now was the time.

"Clark," Jonathan called out as he pounded his claw hammer into a fencepost. "Your Mom told me about what happened with you and Lana in the tornado."

"I saved her, but she saw everything." Knowing how well this next part would go over, Clark took a deep breath and prepared himself for his father's onslaught. "I've decided to share the rest of my secrets with her as soon as she's ready."

The two Kent men argued back and forth for quite some time, until Clark ended the argument by saying, "In the end, Dad, those secrets are _mine._ Mine to keep and mine to share."

Jonathan had no answer for that. Defeated, all he could say was, "I hope you're right about Lana, Son. Because it's _your_ life if you're not."

_That went well, _Clark thought sarcastically. The entire conversation left Clark in a bad mood and he went to the loft after dinner to stew for a while. And that is where Lana found him late that night after she closed the Talon, sitting on the last set of steps leading to the top of the loft. In her hands was the lead box. She had wondered on the way over here what the box or the necklace could possibly have to do with Clark's secrets.

"What're you doing, Clark?" Lana asked. She had stopped at home to freshen up and change into something clean. She was wearing a pink blouse, blue jeans, tan boots, and her hair was held in place with a simple hair band.

"Thinkin'," Clark replied. He had also changed clothes before dinner, only he was wearing a gray t-shirt and blue jeans.

"About what?" Lana asked as she moved closer and sat beside him.

"Lots of things. About how drastically our relationship has changed the last few days, about how close I came to becoming a national curiosity, about how much my dad wants me to keep my secrets from you, but mostly, about how I'm going to tell you all of my secrets anyway."

Clark's hands were folded together in front of him and Lana put her left hand on top of his hands after shifting the lead box to her lap. She rubbed her fingers over the top of his and said, "I want to know you, Clark, but if this is causing you problems, I can wait."

"No, Lana, I've waited long enough to be with you. I'm not waiting any longer."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Revelation

Lana didn't know what was coming, but she knew it was big for Clark, so she waited patiently for him to find the right words, still stroking his folded hands.

Hesitantly, softly, Clark began to speak. "You saw most of what I can do last night, Lana." Clark opened up his hands to take her left hand in his right one. The physical connection with Lana was important to Clark. For him, it served to reinforce the emotional bond they had been developing all year long and he drew on that as a source of strength. "Unlike anyone else you've ever seen with special abilities, my abilities weren't created by meteor rock exposure…I was born this way."

"Born that way, Clark?" Lana asked. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure…not exactly anyway." Sneaking a peek at the lead box, Clark said, "But I _do_ know it has something to do with where I was born."

"You know where you're from? Did you find you're parents?"

"I don't know _exactly_ where I'm from, Lana. I just know where I'm _not_ from."

Sensing this was important, Lana prompted, "And that is…?"

He looked straight into her eyes for the first time since she sat next to him on the steps. He hoped she could read the sincerity in his eyes as he said, "Where I'm not from…is Earth."

Lana looked at Clark like he'd just fallen out of the stupid tree and hit every single branch on the way down. She wanted to be tactful, but she was sure he was pulling her leg and she wasn't especially happy about it.

Clark could see her irritation as plain as day and moved to end it before it blossomed into something uncontrollable. "I can see you don't believe me, which is why I had you bring the box and your meteor rock necklace. Clark released Lana's hand, stood up, and walked to the other side of the stairway landing they were on. When she began to follow, Clark waved her back down. Once on the other side of the landing, Clark turned back to her and said, "Okay. Open the box and pull out the meteor rock necklace."

Curious, Lana readily complied, smiling briefly when she saw the other occupant of the box, Clark's love letter. She allowed the stone to dangle down a few inches from the palm of her hand where the rest of the chain was located.

_Okay, _Clark thought,_ now for the not so fun part. _"Stand up now and start walking slowly toward me. While you do, watch me carefully."

Lana couldn't help but be curious as she slowly shuffled across the room, inching closer to Clark. As she edged closer, Lana could see Clark's face becoming strained and he looked unsteady on his feet. A quick look at the stone itself let Lana see that it was glowing as if lit from within. By the time she was standing in front of him, he was slightly hunched forward and looked like he was having stomach cramps.

Clark wasn't done yet though. He weakly held out one arm and gasped, "Now, one last demonstration. Touch the stone to the back of my hand."

Seeing his reaction to just being near the stone, Lana was unsure how smart that idea was, but when he repeated his request, she leaned forward and touched the stone to his skin. Clark sank to the floor immediately and Lana watched in horror as a web of dark green lines spread out instantly from the point of contact, seeming to follow Clark's network of veins and arteries. When she saw both his hand cramping uncontrollably and the agony on his face, she flung the necklace up onto the top level of the loft, where it skidded to a stop against the closed Dutch doors.

Lana sank to her knees to try and help Clark though she had no idea what might work. "You…how…you…I don't…" As Clark recovered his strength, he sat up and Lana sat down to be next to him. "Oh, Clark, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that would happen to you or I never would have…"

"Yes, Lana. I know you didn't know, but I did. I had to prove to you that I'm different from any meteor freak you've ever seen. Not only do I have more than one ability, but meteor rocks make me sick. A big enough rock held against me for a long enough period of time might actually kill me. The meteor freaks don't have that kind of problem with the green rocks."

Lana was unsure about Clark being an alien. _Maybe he just has a weird allergic reaction to the meteor rocks, _she thought. _On the other hand, how many people have multiple abilities like he does? _She went back and forth inside her mind, going over what she knew and suspected as she searched for the truth.

Clark broke Lana out of her thoughts by saying, "There's one more thing I can show you that ought to prove my alien heritage to you like it did to me earlier this year."

"Huh?"

"My spaceship."

"Your _what?"_

"Spaceship." When Lana just stared at him with a glazed look on her face, Clark elaborated, "You know, a vehicle capable of interstellar travel."

Lana shook her head quickly and said, "_This, _I have to see!"

They trooped downstairs and out to the storm cellar. Clark opened the shiny new lock he and Jonathan had just installed on the door and held the door open for Lana. He told her there were some flashlights inside a workbench just inside the door. She grabbed two of them and handed one to him. After switching them on, Clark led Lana to the back of the cellar.

"Sorry about the mess down here, Lana. The door was opened during the storm when Dad chased after that bum from the Inquisitor, Roger Nixon. Mom wasn't able to close the door after that and the wind caused a serious mess down here. Dad and I just haven't gotten around to cleaning it up yet."

Lana ignored the mess as her attention was riveted by a large, metallic object along the back wall of the cellar. Until this moment, this had all seemed like a game to her, after all, this was Clark. She'd already seen his strength and speed, so what kind of secrets could he really have left to hide?

But now she knew differently. Clark was deadly serious about this. It was no longer a matter of fun and games. Despite the late evening chill in the air, Lana began to sweat and her heart started to pound like a jackhammer. She closely inspected the ship from several angles, drinking in the aesthetics as only a serious artist would. She had been around farms all of her life and knew this wasn't any kind of farm equipment.

Lana had to face the facts, Clark was telling the truth. He _was_ an alien. Breathing was difficult for Lana all of a sudden. Slackjawed, she turned to him and said, "I…uh…I believe you. You're an alien." Saying it out loud for the first time seemed to make it more real to her, more concrete.

Lana thought maybe she should be afraid or something, but when she studied Clark's face, it was obvious _he_ was scared of _her, _and that was something she couldn't stand. She realized then and there that she had the power to crush him with a word, that _this_ was his true fear. How she reacted to him now could have far-reaching effects. Unconsciously, one of Lana's hands reached up to Clark's cheek and began to stroke it. "The _ship_ looks alien, Clark…but not you." Lana thought a bit more and then asked, "Is being alien what you were upset about that night in the graveyard?"

"Yeah, I'd just been told I was from another planet. I was angry, hurt, stunned…you name it. I was just trying to sort out my thoughts when you found me out there, and you did a wonderful job of settling me down. Thanks."

Lana smiled when she remembered that night. "You're welcome. That night, we had our first real conversation, Clark…" then, a light went on inside Lana's head, "…and because I'd loaned my necklace to Whitney, I wasn't wearing it that night. No wonder. All those years I thought I scared you, when really it was just my necklace."

"Oh, don't worry, Lana. You definitely scared me, that necklace just made things a lot worse than they would've been otherwise."

Looking back at the ship, Lana asked, "What's the inside of the ship look like?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. If you look on the side there right by that corner, you should see a shallow octagonal depression. Dad thinks that's where any key would have to fit since there are no other openings that we can find."

"I don't see any depression over here," Lana said.

Clark moved to her side to look and saw she was right, then he noticed something he should have seen right away. The ship was resting on the ground, but was perfectly upright instead of tilted on one side. When he put his hand down on the ship near where the depression used to be, the key popped up out of the depression and the ship toppled back toward the wall. Clark gingerly picked up the octagonal key and said, "Mom told me Nixon had the key with him, but I didn't know he'd left it behind. This could be_ huge."_

As Lana ran her fingertips along the surface of the ship, she looked back at Clark and asked, "Why, Clark? Why'd you share all of this with me? I'm honored, and I'll never tell anyone…but why? You could've told me all about your abilities, and I would've been happy. I never would've had to find out about your origin."

Clark shrugged his shoulders and said, "I wanted you to know me, to know _all_ of me. You deserve the chance to decide if you want to date an alien or not."

"Thanks, Clark. Thanks for trusting me." Lana left thoughts of the spaceship behind and focused fully on Clark. "As for making that decision, I'm going to need some time to think it over."

Now it was Clark's turn to be patient. He had thought Lana would need some time to sort things out, and he was prepared to give her all the time she needed. "Lana, I've given you something to think about that I bet you've never even dreamed about before. Maybe…maybe you should go home tonight and think it over. If you aren't scared of me, if you still want to see me, come back tomorrow and I'll answer any questions you have."

Lana agreed, but before she could leave the storm cellar, Clark said, "One more thing."

"Yes, Clark?"

Clark's eyes were brimming with warmth and sincerity, "Whatever happens, Lana, whatever choice you make, know that I love you."

Lana felt her face flush. Clark's simple statement of love and support made her want to cry. Before that could happen, Lana scurried out of the cellar, collected the box and necklace from the loft, and headed home.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Decision

For the second night in a row, sleep was hard to come by for both Clark and Lana. Clark was, understandably, one giant, raw nerve. He had just gotten together with the girl of his dreams and then turned right around and risked everything. Now, he was lying in bed and praying for the oblivion that comes with sleep to help ease his mind.

Lana's possible reactions scared Clark. It wasn't like he was just starting a relationship with some random girl; in this case, he'd been in love with Lana for a very long time. She'd already developed a strong connection to his heart without even knowing it. If she chose to cut that connection now, he knew it would hurt him like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He was totally at her mercy, something he wasn't used to, and he found he didn't like it. _I'm used to being in control of my life, _Clark thought. _This sitting and waiting is driving me insane!_

He tried thinking about other things, like which fence lines he needed to check for damage after yesterday's storms, but his thoughts were always drawn back to Lana. After hours of this torture, his absolute emotional exhaustion allowed him to gain a couple hours of fitful sleep. With school tomorrow, and finals at the end of the week just before graduation, he'd need all of the sleep he could get.

Lana's trouble with sleep was the other side of Clark's coin. Once home, she had raced inside and up to her bedroom without a single word to Nell. Nell had seen Lana long enough to tell she was upset, but Nell figured Lana would come talk to her if she wanted to share what was going on.

Lana dressed for bed, but then spent the next half hour pacing back and forth in her nightie and pink bunny slippers. The lead box was sitting in the middle of her bed, and every time she turned, her eyes, and her thoughts, were drawn to it like iron filings to a lodestone.

_My conflict is all tied up in that box,_ Lana thought. _Clark's an alien…but he loves me. I love him…but he's not even human._ That thought led Lana to think about what it takes for someone to be human._ Clark's the kindest, most considerate person I know. He's smart, hard-working, unfailingly polite, and incredibly handsome. He has these amazing abilities, but doesn't use them for personal gain. Most guys I know would be flaunting what they could do, but Clark just wants to be one of the guys. It seems he wants to be more 'human' than anyone else._

_If that's not human, _Lana thought finally,_ then we need more aliens. _She was close to making her decision, but she needed some reinforcement so she opened the box and pulled out its contents.

The necklace reminded her that Clark was an alien, but now she thought of him as more like an immigrant from another country. Only, his native country was a lot farther away than anyone else's. Next, she indulged herself with a reread of that amazing love letter.

**Dearest Lana,**

Just reading that greeting made her heart beat faster.

**I love you.**

**I know it's too early in our relationship for me to say that, but it's the truth, and I promised to tell you everything I feel about you.**

_No, Clark,_ Lana thought, _it's not too early in our relationship to say that. You'll never have to apologize to me for sharing your thoughts and feelings._

**I love you.**

**Saying it once just isn't enough for me. I've been in love with you since I was five years old, since before I was old enough to know what love was. I've been waiting ten years to tell you how I feel about you and now that I've started, I can't stop.**

_Reading it just once isn't enough for me either, Clark, _Lana thought,_ so write it to me some more. I promise I'll never get tired of reading it, or hearing it._

**I love you.**

**The gentle sound of your voice, the radiant warmth of your smile, the glossy sheen of your strawberry-scented hair, all of these small perfections are endearing, but what I love is you.**

**I love the girl that introduced me to her parents in a fog-shrouded graveyard and calmed my fears.**

**I love the girl that loves to curl up with a Russian classic to while away the hours.**

**I love the girl that saved the place her parents met at from the wrecking ball and turned it into the most popular hangout in town.**

**I love the girl that cares so much about her fellow man that she chaired the blood drive this year.**

**But most of all, I love the girl that has trusted me this year by opening up and showing to me a side of herself that few are ever privileged enough to know.**

Inside, Lana was gushing all over again. _Oh, Clark, just by writing this letter, you opened yourself up to me in a way I never thought possible. Guys always seem to hide what they think and feel, but not you, not now._

**She's the girl I want to be with.**

**She's you, and I love you.**

Now Lana was sure, she knew what she wanted._ I want to be with you, too, Clark. I've made my decision. I choose you. I choose us._

**Love Always,**

**Clark.**

Lana decided that one letter deserved another. She sat herself down at her desk, and started to write on plain, ruled notebook paper in pencil. After several drafts, she finally was happy with what she had written. She then pulled out a sheet of her fancy stationery along with her best pen and began to write.

**Dearest Clark,**

**I love you!**

**I've thought it over and what I decided was that where you're from doesn't really matter to me, it's what you've done while you're here that counts.**

**I can only imagine what you've done with your skills, but I'll bet anything that saving me from the tornado wasn't the first heroic thing you've done.**

**There's so much more I want to say to you right now, but I want to say it in person. I'll come by and see you later today after work. I hope this letter will tide you over until then.**

**Here's to tonight!**

**Love,**

**Lana**

The last thing Lana did before folding the letter and placing it in an envelope that matched her paper was to squirt a shot of her best perfume into the air and then swipe the letter through the perfume cloud to give her letter a special scent. She wanted this letter to scream 'important' and 'romantic' from the time Clark picked it up. Lana then folded the letter and carefully placed it into the envelope. After writing 'Miss Lonely Hearts' in the address location as a private joke, her last act was to lick the envelope flap, press it shut, and seal it with a kiss.

Lana thought about sneaking back over to the Kent farm and leaving her short letter where Clark could find it in the morning before school, but instead decided to tuck it inside his locker where he would be _sure _to find it before first hour.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Magic

The next morning, Clark met Pete in the parking lot at school. "How's your dad doing, Clark?"

"He's fine. There don't appear to be any lingering effects from his time underground with Nixon." Looking over at his best friend, Clark asked, "I never did get to ask you, how'd the dance go with you and Erica?"

"We had a nice time, Clark," Pete replied. "I might even ask her out for next weekend." As they hustled into the building, Pete asked, "What happened between you and Chloe? I thought this was your big chance, but the next day, when we were searching for your dad, Chloe told me there was nothing going on between you two. So spill it."

Clark felt uncomfortable talking about Chloe, but he wanted everyone to know about him and Lana, so he said, "I would've pursued something with Chloe, Pete, except for the fact that I'm finally taking my shot with Lana. Things have been happening and I didn't want to jinx myself by talking about them prematurely, but Lana and I had one dance at the Spring Formal and it was _magic."_

"'Magic,' huh? Let me get my books and then you can define 'magic' for me."

Clark stopped in front of his locker, while Pete headed down to his. Clark quickly dialed in the combination, and while opening the door, snuck a quick look around to see if he could locate Lana. Because he was looking elsewhere when the door opened, he didn't see the creamy white envelope which had been leaning precariously against the inside of the door.

As he turned to grab his school books, the envelope toppled out onto the hallway floor where it nearly got stepped on by two passing students. Before anyone else got a shot at it, Pete returned from his locker, saw the envelope laying on the ground unmarred and picked it up.

"This yours, Clark?" Pete asked as he held the envelope aloft.

"I don't know," Clark replied, "who's it addressed to?"

Turning the envelope so he could make out the elegant handwriting, Pete said, "Well I'll be damned. It's a letter for Miss Lonely Hearts…whoever _that_ bleeding heart happens to be."

Clark involuntarily reached out for the letter as he now suspected who had written it, but Pete turned him away, saying, "This is _my_ letter now, Clark. You want to read some girl's helpless bleating, find your own letter."

With Pete's back turned, Clark struck like a viper as he reached out and snatched the letter from Pete's hand.

"Hey," Pete complained, "give that back! I told you to get your own letter."

Clark used his size to keep Pete away from the letter, and said quietly, "Follow me. If you'll shut up for a second, I'll let you in on something."

There were still twenty minutes to go before classes started for the day, so Clark and Pete entered an empty classroom and shut the door for some privacy.

"Okay, Clark," Pete said, "tell me why I shouldn't go Kung-Fu on your behind. That letter is mine, what with finders-keepers and all."

"Sorry, Pete," Clark said as he held the letter where Pete could see the address once more. "The letter is _clearly_ made out to 'Miss Lonely Hearts.'"

"Yeah, so? You gonna turn it in to the office?"

"Well, what I'm letting you in on is this, and you can't tell _anybody _about this Pete, not even Chloe or Lana_. I _am Miss Lonely Hearts."

Pete paused for a second while he waited for the punch line that had to be coming. When no joke materialized, Pete started to laugh, saying, "Oh, right! You're the advice columnist for those with love problems and _you_ can't even get your own love life straightened out. You have two of the hottest girls in our class both dying to go out with you and yet you can't manage to handle that. So how do you expect me to believe that you're helping anyone else?"

Clark brought Pete's merriment to a screeching halt, and all he had to do was say, "Stu Pidaso."

Pete sobered up quickly and asked, "Where'd you hear that name, Clark?"

"You wrote me a gag letter, which I thought was hilarious at the time, and signed it, 'Stu Pidaso.' I'm kind of slow sometimes, so I _just_ realized you were making fun of _my_ romantic problems, which is something that has always been off limits for us." Truly annoyed now, Clark narrowed his eyes and stared down at Pete, taking full advantage of his height to make Pete feel as small as possible. "Why'd you do it, Pete?"

_Holy crap, _Pete thought. _Clark really **is** Miss Lonely Hearts, and he's also really pissed at me. Damn! Clark's just told me a secret, I guess I can tell him one to get out of this mess. _

"Simple, Clark," Pete said, "I'm jealous."

Caught completely off guard, Clark asked, "Jealous? Of _what? _I haven't had a love life to be jealous of." _Until now anyway, _he thought smugly.

"I know you've been too caught up in your own 'problems' to notice it, but…_I can't believe I'm going to tell him this…_I like Chloe just as much as you like Lana. The problem is, the girl of_ my_ dreams, dreams about _you! _So I wrote that letter out of frustration. I just needed to vent, and not at you, because it's not your fault that Chloe likes you instead of me."

The letter in Clark's hand was temporarily forgotten. "Why didn't you tell me before, Pete? You know all about my crush on Lana and have known for years."

Pete was becoming uncomfortable and he knew it was about time for other students to start entering classrooms, so he said quickly, "Chloe is the first girl to ever catch my interest like that. I've tried to hide it, heck, I've even tried to fight it, but it's done me no good. I think I love her. Erica and all of the other girls I've chased this year have just been something to take my mind off of what I can't have."

A student opened the door, so Clark and Pete headed to their own classroom. Just as Clark was about to advise Pete about going after Chloe, who should walk up between them but Chloe herself. She was feeling chipper this morning as evidenced by her sunny, "Hello, Guys!"

"Hi, Chloe," Clark and Pete chorused.

"Jeez," Chloe replied, "if you guys would work on it a bit, I bet you could do that in two-part harmony." Being Chloe, she managed to pick up on the one thing Clark didn't want her to see, the letter. "Whatcha got there, Clark?"

"Umm…nothing, just a letter."

"Just a letter?" Chloe wondered. "That's awfully good paper for 'just a letter.' And if I'm not mistaken, I smell a trace of fancy perfume. So that 'just a letter' must be from a girl, and one who really likes you at that." Clark became more and more uncomfortable the longer Chloe's analysis went on, while Pete was eating this up. "So…what did Lana have to say? Or is it too private for tender ears like mine?"

Showing her the still-sealed back flap, but carefully making sure she never saw the address, Clark said, "As you can see, I haven't read it yet."

Clark was saved from any further interrogation by their arrival at their first hour class. The three friends split up and headed to their respective seats. Clark watched Pete watch Chloe as she headed to her seat and smiled. _Maybe Miss Lonely Hearts can give Pete some advice, _Clark thought. _I'll have to put some effort into that idea._

As he slid his backpack to the floor beside his desk, Clark looked at the letter still held in his left hand and decided he had enough time to read it before class began. He slid a finger under the edge of the envelope's flap and tore it down its length. Both Pete and Chloe heard the thick paper tear and turned in their seats to watch Clark read. As Clark pulled the letter from the envelope, he savored the sweet and slightly spicy scent of Lana's perfume. It made him think back to the dance they shared two nights earlier, causing an involuntary smile. He unfolded the letter and began to read.

**Dearest Clark,**

**I love you!**

Clark pumped his free hand in the air and nearly launched himself out of his seat in excitement while voicing a slightly muffled, "Yes!" Pete and Chloe grinned at his reaction and then looked at each other to share the moment. Both were happy for their close friend.

_He deserves to be happy, _Chloe thought, _even if it's not with me, _while Pete thought, _Clark has wanted this for as long as I've known him, I'm glad for him. _Pete ventured another glance at Chloe. _Now, if I can only get what I want._

**I've thought it over and what I decided was that where you're from doesn't really matter to me, it's what you've done while you're here that counts.**

**I can only imagine what you've done with your skills, but I'll bet anything that saving me from the tornado wasn't the first heroic thing you've done.**

_You won't have to imagine much longer, Lana, _Clark thought._ Now that you know about me, I want to explain why I left you at The Beanery instead of going to the Radiohead concert and why I missed your birthday party. There are many other things to explain, but now that you accept me, I want you to know them all._

**There's so much more I want to say to you right now, but I want to say it in person. I'll come by and see you later today after work. I hope this letter will tide you over until then.**

**Here's to tonight!**

_Tonight! _Clark thought._ Gaaah! I don't know if I can last until tonight. I need to talk to her **right now**, but I can't mention anything here in school…well, I **can** tell her I love her._

**Love,**

**Lana**

Clark finished his reading by softly kissing the letter right on Lana's closing. _I love you, too. _The bell for the start of class rang as Clark refolded his letter and slid in back into the protective covering of the envelope. He didn't hear one word in ten said by his teacher and was out the door like a shot when the bell rang to end class.

Pete and Chloe tried to catch up, but quickly gave up. They knew Clark was headed to meet Lana, since those two always met in the halls and walked together to their second hour class. Even though catching up was out of the question, Pete hurried along anyway, not wanting to miss seeing this meeting. Chloe was _trying_ to be happy for her friends, but she wasn't quite up to being_ that_ excited for them and lagged behind.

Pete had barely made it to the top of the main stairwell when Clark stepped off of the bottom step. He had just enough time to run a hand through his always unruly hair before Lana appeared around the next corner. From his vantage point, Pete could see Clark in profile and thus saw his face light up like a Christmas tree as Lana came into view. She saw him a second later and returned his incandescent smile with one of her own. Clark's smile was all Lana needed to see, she knew he had read her letter. They quickly made their way to each other and then stood just a foot apart, each not quite willing to close that last gap.

Clark managed to say, "I love you, too, Lana," but after that, he was lost. He felt like he was in a dream that he'd wake up from if he tried to touch Lana, and she wanted him to make the first move. At last, someone in the crowd helped out by bumping into Clark from behind which shoved him into Lana. Then, they hugged fiercely and even shared a quick kiss despite the school rules against public displays of affection. Hand-in-hand, they disappeared down the hall as Pete silently cheered them from the top of the stairs. He thought to himself, _So that's what 'magic' looks like. _

Everyone that saw them together that day knew the rumors were true, not only had Lana Lang dumped Whitney Fordman, but she was now with Clark Kent. For Clark and Lana, the rumors didn't matter, only the reality. They were together, and they'd never been happier.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Prelude

Clark and Lana had been floating on a cloud all day long. They had three out of six classes together, but those gave them little time for anything but shooting each other little looks during class. In science class, the one class they had with both Chloe and Pete, Mr. Summers caught them getting all googly-eyed at each other and called for them to return their attention to the lecture, which brought a ripple of laughter from the other students.

At lunch they had been in their own little world at an otherwise empty corner table and after school, they had talked as long as they could before Lana had to rush off to take her shift at the Talon. Clark knew he'd have trouble waiting for the end of Lana's shift, so he went home and forced himself to perform his afternoon chores at human speed to take up time.

At supper, over a Martha Kent meal of fried chicken, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes with gravy, Clark got the great pleasure of telling his parents how everything had turned out.

"I thought I'd update you two on how my 'talk' with Lana went," Clark said cautiously.

Jonathan froze in the middle of asking for the dish of coleslaw and asked, "Is this good news or bad news?"

Martha had perked up, too, and she said, "Look at him, Jonathan. Our son can barely hide his smile. He hasn't been our normally moody boy at all since he came home."

"Mom's right, Dad. Things with Lana are _wonderful_ right now," Clark said smugly. "I finally collected the dance she owed me at the Spring Formal and it was perfect. I opened up to her by giving her a love letter at the dance and she loved it. She learned about my strength and speed during the tornado and wasn't bothered a bit. Finally, I told her last night that I'm an alien, and after having the night to think about it, she let me know this morning that it didn't matter to her. I'm just… I've never been…I'm so _happy_ right now."

Clark's parents shared a meaningful look. They had always wondered if he'd be able to find someone who could learn his secrets and still care about him the way he deserved. Privately, they both thought Clark had chosen the nicest, sweetest girl imaginable. Lana might not be THE one, but it appeared she'd do for now.

"We'll want to talk to Lana about this," Jonathan said, "just to let her know what our expectations are."

"And," Martha added hurriedly, "to welcome her to the family…well, not to the _family,_ but you know what I mean."

Once the meal was over, Clark got edgy again. Counting down the minutes until the Talon closed felt more like counting hours. _Whichever genius said that time is relative, _Clark thought, _had to have been waiting on his girlfriend. _Television couldn't hold Clark's attention and neither could his homework.

Lana had just as much difficulty waiting as Clark did, except the nature of her job, pouring blazingly hot coffee all night long, required her to concentrate on what she was doing. That and a steady stream of customers helped her pass the time relatively easily until it was finally time to start her pre-close activities.

The Talon was nearly empty when Lana announced she'd be closing in 10 minutes. As the last customers put down their cups and headed for the door, Lana followed them to lock the two sets of doors behind them, before cleaning off the last few tables. By the time she came back from locking the doors, all of the tables were spotless.

_What the heck? _Lana wondered. _There were at least two tables that needed to be cleaned, I'm sure of it._

Lana went to the back to grab a roll of plastic trashcan liners from the supply cabinet so she could change out the Talon's cans. It didn't take her long, but when she came back out to the public area of the Talon, a row of tightly-tied trash bags was sitting in front of the counter.

Once again, Lana thought, _What the…wait a minute! _Mentally slapping herself on the forehead for not figuring this out sooner, she stopped in her tracks with her hands on her hips and called out, "Clark! Where are you?"

To Lana, Clark's body seemed to appear out of nowhere when he popped up right in front of her and said, "Hi, Lana." Clark still wasn't to the point where he felt comfortable stealing a kiss from her, so he resisted the urge and waited.

"Hi, Clark." Lana gestured to the bags and the tables, and said, "Thanks for the help, but you were beginning to scare me there for a bit."

Clark snatched the roll of bags out of her hands and said, "Thanks. I didn't know where you kept these." In a blurry second, Clark relined every can and handed the roll of bags back to Lana, before adding, "Sorry about scaring you, Lana. I just couldn't wait a second longer to talk to you tonight, so I figured if I made the physical part of cleaning up go away, you could finish your paperwork and prepare your bank deposit and we could be on our way. Now, if you'd be so good as to let me know what else needs to be done, I can get started."

"I've been on pins and needles all day long, too. Being next to you in school, but not able to say what I wanted to say was excruciating. I'm glad you're here." Lana ran down a mental checklist of things she needed to do to close the Talon. "The remaining dishes need to be washed and the entire floor needs to be swept. Think you can handle that?"

Clark leaned forward ever so slightly and said, "Yes…but a little incentive wouldn't hurt."

Lana gladly took the hint as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed him quickly on the lips. Before she lowered her heels back to the floor, Clark was already in action. She could hear the water running to fill the sink in the back, but before the sink filled completely, Clark had already finished sweeping the entire Talon. By the time she had her paperwork spread out on a table so she could get to work on it, Clark had washed and dried the dishes and taken the trash bags out to the dumpster in the alley.

When he sat down in a chair across from her, Lana smiled and said, "Would you like a job? I could use a worker who can move like that."

"Hmm…spending more time with you? Sounds tempting, but I'm not sure how your customers would respond to their coffee and pastry appearing out of thin air."

"Yeah, they might freak if they thought this place was haunted." Lana looked Clark over, still amazed that a guy like him wanted to be with her, and said, "Seriously, Clark, I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to use your abilities around me."

Clark carefully reached across the table and Lana's paperwork to take her hands in his. "This is what I've wanted since I was old enough to know I was different. I wanted someone to know me, know _all_ of me, and accept me. I feel free around you now, Lana." He gently squeezed her hands and then added, "It's wonderful to be able to share this part of me with someone other than my parents."

Lana squeezed Clark's hands in reply. "Speaking of your parents…do they know you told me?"

"Yeah."

"How'd they react?"

"About how I'd expect them to: Mom was concerned, but when I convinced her I was sure about you, she relented; Dad, on the other hand, went off the deep end. He didn't stop arguing until I told him point blank that these secrets are mine and that I get to choose who learns them."

Lana hunched her shoulders and dipped her head as if ducking a blow. "I'm really not looking forward to meeting your folks _now."_

"Oh, don't worry about it, Lana. Dad was mad at _me. _He'll be fine with you once he assures himself that you're okay with my secrets and the responsibility that comes with them."

"You sure?"

"Trust me."

"I already do." They shared beatific smiles and then Lana said, "Now, if I can have my hands back for a few minutes, I'll get this stuff done and we can be on our way."

True to her word, Lana plowed through the paperwork in no time and then Clark escorted her to the bank as she dropped off the day's receipts. After dropping off Lana's car at her home, Clark took her to his place. They still had a lot to talk about, and he knew his parents would want to talk to Lana also. Even though he had told Lana not to worry about his parents' reactions, that didn't mean_ he_ was looking forward to the meeting. As he held the kitchen door open for Lana, Clark thought, _I've gone this far, there's no use in backing out now._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Tonight

Jonathan and Martha were sitting on the couch when the young couple came through the kitchen door. The television program was immediately turned off and the four of them met in the kitchen.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Lana said brightly.

"Hello, Lana," Jonathan replied. "How are you doing?"

That was a loaded question, and everyone in the room knew it. It could refer to her condition after the accident, but it could also refer to how well she was coping with Clark's secrets.

Lana confidently placed her hand in Clark's and said simply, "I'm fine, Clark's fine, and right now, we're extra-fine together."

All the Kents had really needed was to see how easily Lana touched, and allowed herself to be touched by, Clark. Words were just that…words, but backing up those words with deeds was something else entirely. Jonathan offered to shake hands with Lana, and once their hands were clasped, he pulled Lana into a hug.

Clark and Martha were both surprised, and shared a look of shock, before Clark said, "I think that's Dad's way of welcoming you to the family."

Once he released Lana from the impromptu hug, Jonathan asked, "Lana, are you okay with keeping a big secret like this? I know you accept my son, but keeping this set of secrets is an awesome responsibility. His life could be in danger if you let this information slip out."

"Honest, Mr. Kent," Lana said as she made the 'cross my heart' motion, "no one will ever find out Clark's secrets from me…not even if we eventually break up."

"That's all I need to hear, Dear," Martha said, and before Jonathan could say anything else, she added pointedly, "and that's all _Jonathan_ needs to hear, too."

"…at least if he knows what's good for him," Clark murmured.

That caused all four of them to break up laughing, after which Martha had a hug of her own with Lana. Martha knew her son, and she also knew Lana had been working and likely hadn't had a decent meal yet, so she went to the refrigerator and brought out the leftovers from dinner. There was still plenty of everything, all she had to do was lightly heat the gravy on the stove while she microwaved a plate of the mashed potatoes and fried chicken for each of the two youngsters.

Flabbergasted, Lana made a crack about the only thing missing being a piece of pie. When Martha dished out one piece of pie each, Lana looked up in awe before digging in. Clark had never seen Lana eat like that before, on the other hand, she'd never eaten at his house either. _Maybe it's not me,_ he mused, _maybe it's Mom's cooking._

Clark ate his leftovers and waited patiently for Lana to down hers before moving on to business. There was one more difficult thing he had to tell Lana, and for this, he thought he'd need his parents for backup.

As the last forkful of apple pie slid down Lana's throat, washed down by the cold smoothness of a glass of milk, Clark cleared his throat. His parents thought that was their signal to leave, but Clark motioned for them to stay.

Lana praised the cook, saying, "Thanks so much for dinner, Mrs. Kent, and to think that was a meal of leftovers. If I lived here, I'd weigh 150 pounds."

"Yeah, thanks, Mom," Clark seconded.

The Kents were looking at Clark, curious about what he wanted them to stay for, and Lana was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. Seeing the ball was in his court, Clark looked at Lana and began.

"Lana, there's one more thing I have to tell you that will be hard for you to hear. I thought about telling you last night, but I decided one life-altering revelation a night was more than enough."

Lana's curiosity was piqued. She wondered what he could possibly have left to tell her that could be as earth-shattering as 'Hey, I'm an alien!'

Clark didn't keep her in suspense for very long, he took one deep breath, let it out halfway, and said, "Lana, you know that I was born in outer space. You've even seen the ship I came to Earth in as a three-year-old child. What you don't know is _when_ I came to Earth."

Lana thought, _Clark is looking strangely scared for someone about to tell such a little piece of information such as when he came here…and how is something like that going to be hard for me to hear?_ Clark's parents could see where he was going with this, they just didn't quite see where they were going to fit into the conversation.

"There's no easy way to say this, Lana. My spaceship crash-landed in the middle of a field during the meteor shower. I don't know if the meteors just happened to follow the same trajectory as my ship did, or if they were somehow brought along intentionally. All I know is, the event that brought me to Earth, is the same event that killed your parents. I'm so sorry."

Lana stared at the table in front of her for a few seconds and then looked up at the three people looking back at her. Mr. and Mrs. Kent were giving her a shared look of sympathy. That was something Lana was used to, in fact, she was beginning to feel like 'the fairy princess' all over again, and _that_ irritated her.

Clark, on the other hand, looked extremely guilty. Try as she might, Lana couldn't figure out why. After all, Clark was just a kid when her parents died, he couldn't _possibly_ blame himself for their deaths…or could he? Lana looked more closely at Clark, and his eyes jerked away from her.

_Oh jeez,_ Lana thought, _here I thought __**I**__ had some hang-ups related to the meteor shower. Clark's been blaming himself all year for my parents' deaths. I've gotta redirect his thoughts right now._

"Clark?" Lana asked without response from Clark. "Clark? Look at me."

Reluctantly, Clark turned his eyes to her with his shoulders hunched and his head bowed, prepared for what might come.

Lana's voice was as smooth and warm as she could make it. "Clark, you're the one person I know that doesn't see me as 'the fairy princess' from the cover of Time. You see _me._ Don't ruin that by blaming yourself for what happened to my folks. We were both three years old at the time. I couldn't even tie my own shoes at that age, so I don't know how you could think you're to blame for an entire meteor shower."

Clark smiled just a bit and said, "If you don't blame me, then I can't blame me. Is that how it goes?"

"You got it."

The Kents were amazed to see the way Lana was able to point out the holes in Clark's thoughts in a way that got her point across but didn't tear him down.

Clark turned to his parents and said, "I just wanted you two here in case I needed some backup on my story of when I came here." Clark turned back to Lana. "You see, Lana, they found me butt-naked in the middle of a field somewhere between here and town."

Martha nudged her way into the conversation to say, "He found us, Lana. We were upside down in the trench dug by the passing of Clark's ship and he came walking over to our truck and found us. That's the other half of the story I told you yesterday at the Talon."

Alarmed as any child is when his parents start telling baby stories, Clark asked, "What story?"

"Ask Lana, Dear. That story belongs to her."

A few minutes of chit-chat later, and Clark had excused himself and Lana so they could go out to the loft for some time together before Lana had to go home.

Heading across the hard-packed driveway hand-in-hand, Lana and Clark started out walking but they began to move faster the closer they got to their destination. Clark fumbled around at the bottom of the steps until he found the light switch for the loft and flipped it on. Lana took advantage of his distraction to race up the stairs ahead of him. Clark caught up to her at the first landing, and with both hands on her slender waist, lifted her up into the air.

Clark's hands had grabbed Lana just under the edge of her blouse, and being very ticklish, she started squealing and flailing her arms and legs. Clark took a few heel kicks to the gut, but those were as painless as being punched by a baby. Clark didn't set her back down until he reached the top of the loft.

Lana was breathless from her exertions, and seeing her gently glowing beauty in the soft light of the loft quickly took Clark's breath from him. He then took her hands and pulled her close, so close in fact, that all he could see was hazel and all she could see was jade. With their eyes locked, Clark wanted desperately to just dive in and kiss her, but his inherent shyness and the fact that he'd always tried to be a gentleman combined to stop him.

"Lana…"

She anticipated his question and cut him off, "If you don't, Clark…I will."

That was all the encouragement he needed as his lips leapt forward to capture hers. The two of them stood there for an uncounted length of time as, for the very first time, they made use of their mutual passion.

Deep inside, Clark knew he no longer had anything to fear from Lana and she knew the same about him. When they were together, it seemed that they were more than the sum of their parts, like some strange alchemical reaction where 1+1=3.

When they finally broke their kiss, Clark said, "Your letter said…"

"Did you keep it?"

"Of course! It's right there in the top drawer of my desk along with all of the letters you sent to Miss Lonely Hearts. I have it on good authority that 'she' felt _those_ letters were pretty special, too." Clark snuck in a quick kiss. "Now, as I was saying, your letter said you had a lot more you wanted to say to me, but you wanted to say it to me in person…what did you have in mind?"

"It went something like this." Lana leaned back in and kissed him full on the lips. "And then this." Followed by another kiss. "And then _this."_ Which was followed by the hottest kiss yet.

"Thank you for saving my life, Clark. Thank you for being there for me this year. Most of all, thank you for just being you." One last soft kiss followed and then Lana said, "I think that about covers what I needed to say. Now didn't you tell me last night that you had more things to say?"

Trying to catch his breath and slow his racing heart, Clark said, "Umm…you may be right, but right now, after kisses like _those,_ I'm doing good to remember my name."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Double Trouble

Clark spent a few moments recovering his mental balance while Lana waited patiently. Finally, he said, "Actually, I said you might have a number of additional questions to ask after all that I've laid on you recently…though I _do_ have a couple more things to confess."

Surprised, Lana asked, _"More_ to confess? What else is there to say?"

"Umm, well…you already know about my strength and speed, but I have a pair of abilities that I haven't told you about yet."

"And they are…?"

"Except for when I'm around the meteor rocks, I'm pretty much invulnerable to physical damage of any kind." Clark eased his way over to his old, red couch. After offering a seat to Lana, which she accepted, he sat down next to her before adding, "I'd give you a demonstration, but I think watching me try to stab myself might freak you out a bit, so I'll just give you a couple of examples: First, back at the beginning of school, I was walking home from school one day when Lex ran into me with his Porsche at sixty miles an hour and knocked me off of the bridge into the river. Not only wasn't I hurt, but I pulled Lex from the wreckage of his car."

Lana smiled. "I remember that day. I was so surprised to hear that the always clumsy Clark Kent had saved Lex's life. Now that I know what caused the clumsiness, I'm not so surprised, but I hadn't heard anything about you actually getting_ hit_ by Lex's car."

"Mmm…that's not all he did to accidentally prove my indestructibility. When he was under the influence of Bob Rickman's handshake…"

"Handshake?" Lana asked, as she interrupted.

That necessitated Clark filling Lana in on Bob Rickman and Kyle Tippett. Once she learned the complete truth about that situation, she was embarrassed about the way she had treated Clark.

"So Whitney really _did_ attack Kyle."

"Yeah, and Kyle said he was just trying to see if you were all right after your horse threw you when I came up and scared him off."

"I'm sorry, Clark. I thought you had lost your mind or something for supporting the guy who had attacked my boyf…uhh, Whitney."

"It's okay, Lana," Clark grinned, "you can say boyfriend when referring to Whitney, as long as the reference is past-tense."

"Anyway, back to the subject at hand. What did Lex do to prove your indestructibility?"

"He shot me. Several times."

Lana was so surprised, that she unthinkingly said the first thing that came to mind, which was, "With a _gun?"_

Clark tucked his tongue in the corner of his mouth, and raised his eyebrows a bit as if to say, 'I can't believe she just asked that.' What he _did_ say was, "No, Lana, Lex shot me with a _salad shooter." _To this day, Clark remembered the location of each and every impact. The bruises the bullets had left behind were the last physical pain he could remember that didn't involve meteor rocks. "I was in a lot of pain that day, but none of the bullets even broke my skin."

"You're serious…about getting shot, I mean." Even though Lana knew that Clark had been shot the previous semester, she had this sudden urge to check his injuries and make sure he was okay.

"Yeah, I am."

When Clark stopped talking and spent a few seconds looking at his shoes, Lana gave him a nudge. "What else do you have to 'confess,' Clark? I know you said two things, and invulnerability is only one." He looked uncomfortable to her eyes, and she wondered what he could _possibly_ be worried about telling her after revealing he was an alien.

His eyes finally came back up to hers as he shifted his position on the couch. "This could really be embarrassing…"

"Come on, Clark, you can do it," Lana said encouragingly.

"Embarrassing for _both_ of us."

Lana wasn't stupid. The only thing she could think of where he might remember something that she couldn't had to do with her time under the influence of the Nicodemus flower. She knew she had almost propositioned Whitney, and had flirted heavily with Lex, a guy who was _kind_ of attractive but way too old for her, so she had been surprised to learn she hadn't tried to molest the second guy in her life at the time, Clark Kent. Now, it was beginning to look like he had been protecting her and her feelings when he told her she hadn't done anything to him. _Clark is __**always**__ looking out for me, _Lana thought.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the Nicodemus flower, would it?" Lana asked apprehensively.

Startled, Clark jerked his head back and said, "Oh no…no, but that would be another embarrassing moment for sure." Yanked out of his original train of thought by Lana's question, he asked, "Umm…do you _want_ to know about that, too?"

_In for a penny, in for a pound, _Lana thought. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and said, "I've come this far, I might as well hear it all. Let me have it."

Clark began rubbing his now-sweaty palms on his thighs. Clark was once again trying to screw up the courage to tell her about his last secret ability and, more importantly, how he had misused that ability to compromise her honor. The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. _What if she doesn't accept my apology? _Clark wondered. _I just peeked the one time, but she might not forgive me that easily._ _Maybe I should start off with the Nicodemus incident in the pool and work my way up to begging for forgiveness._

"Okay, well, Whitney told you about you dumping him in the middle of the hallway, right?"

"Correct."

"And then later, you showed up at the Talon, closed the place down, and then got a little 'up front' with Lex. Right?"

"Also correct."

"Well…in between, you spent some, umm, _quality time _with me. First in the Torch office and then in the school pool."

During Clark's last line, Lana's thoughts had been, _The Torch? In the middle of the day? The pool?! What the…I didn't __**have**__ a swimsuit at school._

"I had been hiding out in the Torch because I didn't feel like going to class right then. My dad was in the hospital with something serious and I'd never even seen him go to the doctor before. Anyway, I was moping around, feeling sorry for myself until _you_ showed up looking like…like…like I don't _know_ what, but I do know I sure did like it."

Lana blushed faintly to remember the ensemble she had been wearing that day. Knowing she had worn the black, floral-print tank, the wide leather belt, the tight black miniskirt, and the knee-high black leather boots had made her feel cheap when she had discovered them after coming home from the hospital the next day. But somehow, she hadn't quite been able to make herself throw away the outfit. Maybe Clark's reaction, even though she couldn't remember it, had had something to do with that.

"You said I needed to trust you and let you distract me from my troubles. When I said I did trust you, you pulled me along behind you like a kid with a brand-new puppy. I had no idea where this strength and confidence of yours had come from, but I was really attracted to it."

"And then…?"

"And then the pool. You pulled me all the way down to the deep end." Lana began to blush again, even though she only _suspected_ something embarrassing was about to be told. "Something began to bother me at that point, I guess I just noticed you were acting out of character like my dad had been just before he collapsed."

Afraid to even look at Clark, Lana just sat there with her head in her hands and mumbled, "What happened next?"

"You let me go and continued on around to the diving board where you began to strip."

Lana's face went from bright red to ghostly pale in a matter of seconds. All she could think was that she had stripped naked in front of Clark. She was no longer embarrassed, she was horrified. Seeing how she was reacting, Clark stopped his recitation and asked her if he should quit.

"No, Clark, go on, I'll be okay," Lana said._ At least I think I will._

Unsure if she really would be okay, Clark respected her wishes and returned to his story. "There wasn't any dancing or anything overtly sexy about the way you stripped, Lana. It was more like a matter-of-fact, in-your-face act, kind of like you were saying, 'I'm taking my clothes off right in front of you. Are you man enough to deal with that?'" Clark threw his hands in the air. "I just didn't know what to do with my eyes. I'd look away and then I'd look back. My conscience wanted to respect you, but my hormones wanted to look. This was way better than…well, that's for the last part of show-and-tell today."

That comment cut through Lana's mental shroud. "Huh?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later, Lana," Clark said quietly. "Anyway, to finish, you stopped stripping when you got down to your undies. That's when you _did_ go for sexy, prancing back and forth on the diving board before doing a backflip into the water. Once you climbed out, you told me you knew I wanted you and then you kissed me…and I definitely kissed you back. When I finally tried to break the kiss, you knocked me off balance and into the water where Kwan found me, but somehow you had managed to gather all of your clothes and sneak away."

When Clark stopped speaking, Lana finally chanced a look up at Clark, wondering if he was truly done with that story. As it turned out, he just had to add in the part about their meeting at Chandler's windmill just before she collapsed. His memories of that day brought a smile to his face, a smile which had been kept small by the knowledge that Lana looked like she was about to cry. Clark reached an arm around Lana's back and she allowed him to pull her close.

"Don't worry, Lana. I have one more thing to tell you, and it's a big one. You'll be embarrassed again, but not _nearly_ as much as I will be."

"Is this, 'the last part of show-and-tell today?'" Lana asked.

"Yeah, it is, but first let me apologize for what I'm about to tell you. I did something I'm not proud of. There's no excuse _possible_ for what I did, but I'm begging, and will beg again afterward, for your forgiveness."

Lana began to worry somewhat. She straightened up in his arm and peered up into his face. When he wouldn't look directly at her, she reached up with both hands and turned his face until he could look nowhere else.

"You're scaring me, Clark. What happened?"

Clark's cheeks puffed out as he exhaled heavily. "What happened, Lana, was that I gained the one ability you don't know about yet…and I misused it, horribly."

"What ability is that?"

"X-ray vision."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Full Disclosure

"I'm telling you everything," Clark said, "and I do mean _everything,_ because I want us to start off the right way, with nothing to hide."

"Okay, tell me about this…_x-ray vision?" _Not really sure she had heard him correctly, Lana asked, "That _is_ what you called it, isn't it?"

"Yeah, because that's exactly what it is. I can see into, or through, anything I choose to."

"_Anything?" _

"Anything, except for something covered by, or lined with, lead."

Lana pulled her hands down from his face and reflexively used them to cover her chest. Clark just smiled and shook his head.

"Sorry, Lana, but that's a complete waste of your time. Right now, if I chose to, I could see through your arms, and as many layers of clothing as I want to, to see whatever I want to see." Lana slowly lowered her arms to her sides. "And what I have to confess, is that I've already seen a lot more of you than you might wish."

"When?" was Lana's first question, followed quickly by "What?" and "How much?"

"Let me explain. The x-ray vision started early this school year. I first started getting flashes of this ability the day Tina Greer robbed the bank while looking like Lex. She threw me through the plate glass window of a store and I hit my head. When I sat up, I could see into her body like a live-action x-ray. That's how I knew something was wrong, because her skeleton didn't look right."

Clark paused to see how Lana was taking the news. "The other form of x-ray vision came a bit later. In gym class, the guys were gathered around the climbing ropes and the girls' class had just headed in toward the locker room. Pete and I were the next ones selected to climb and when we got to the top, all of a sudden I could see through Pete's skin. All of his muscles and blood vessels were as clear as a biology diagram. I freaked and let go of the rope, crashing to the ground."

Lana shuddered in sympathy, even though she knew he had been in no danger of being hurt. "What then?"

"When I sat up, I was facing the girls' locker room when my vision suddenly went haywire. The bricks and the wiring suddenly seemed to melt away and I was faced with every guy's hormone-charged fantasy…to be able to see inside the girls' locker room while it was being used."

Not sure she wanted to know, Lana hesitantly asked, "Umm…exactly what did you see?"

"I saw a lot of cute girls in brightly colored underwear and then, this freshly-showered goddess started picking her way through the crowd wearing a white towel."

Lana was torn. She loved the fact that Clark had just referred to her as a 'freshly-showered goddess,' but knowing she had just come from the shower, she knew there was nothing under that towel but bare skin.

"Exactly how much of me did you see, Clark?"

"You turned the other way when you got to your locker and then shimmied that towel down like it was a tight dress. So…I saw you from head to toe from behind before my eyesight snapped back to normal."

Lana was extremely embarrassed, but so was Clark. She hadn't done anything wrong that day, but he had. He knew he could have looked away the instant he realized what was going on, but somehow, he hadn't been able to make himself do it.

"That's what I'm begging forgiveness for, Lana. I saw you naked, at least half of you anyway, and I had plenty of time to look away before you pulled down that towel." Clark turned away, unable to keep looking at her any longer, and added quietly, "I still can't believe I violated you that way."

Lana's embarrassment was quickly giving way to annoyance, if not outright anger. _From the way Clark explained it, _she thought,_ he had plenty of time to turn away, but instead, he chose to take advantage of me just like any other guy would've done._ _Maybe he's not as special as I thought. _But when Lana realized that Clark _had_ done what any guy with a pulse would have done, it just served to show to her how human he truly was. And unlike every other guy she knew, he had been man enough to admit what he had done and sincerely apologize for it, when hiding the truth would've been so much easier.

_Maybe he is special after all._

Lana cleared her throat and began to speak, causing Clark to return his gaze to her. "I can't say I'm not hurt by what you did," Lana said, "but I do like the fact that it shows you have normal human impulses. That's kind of comforting for a girl that just learned her boyfriend is an alien. Also, you get major points for being so upfront about what happened. If you had done the usual thing and kept quiet, I never would've known what happened. Your honesty is refreshing and your apology was absolutely adorable. I want a guy in my life that feels comfortable telling me everything. I want you, Clark."

"Does that mean you forgive me?" Clark asked hopefully.

"Yes, you dope. That's what 'I want you' means." Lana pressed her hands to her thighs and said, "Now, I have a story to tell you."

"Is this the story Mom was referring to inside?"

"Yup."

Clark shuddered involuntarily. "Mom's stories are almost always embarrassing."

Lana placed a hand on Clark's forearm and said, "Don't worry, Clark, this story is mostly about me. You'll like it, I promise. It's about what happened in Nell's flower shop just before the meteor shower."

Lana now had Clark's full attention. He knew she didn't like talking about that most horrible of days, but he also knew that she was now aware that was the day he came to Earth, so he was very curious what she had to say and what his Mom had to do with it.

"You know all about the 'fairy princess' shot on the cover of Time magazine. Heck, everyone knows about that, but you let me forget about it for awhile. What you don't know is what happened just before that shot was taken. My parents had come to Smallville to attend the Homecoming festivities, including the game. Since I was a three-year-old girl and not inclined toward football, Aunt Nell happily agreed to watch me while they went to the game. And that's where your Mom's story came in.

"She said I was sitting at the end of the counter in Nell's with my wings and wand. When she came over to admire my costume, I asked her if she'd like to make a wish. She said she'd _love_ to make a wish and so she did and I tapped her with my wand. A short time later, only a few minutes later as it turned out, you entered her life. Your mom wished for a child…and she got you."

Clark had known for years that his parents couldn't conceive, but he hadn't really known how desperate his mom had been to have a child. He decided it was something he might want to talk to her about, but only after checking first with his dad.

"So you grant wishes, do you?"

"Mmm…on occasion, but only for the purest reasons." She lifted one eyebrow and asked, archly, "Are your reasons pure, Clark?"

He nearly choked at the insinuation, and managed to stammer out, "I, umm, yes, mostly anyway. But being all alone with you does make that hard."

"You just admitted something to me that no guy with less than the best, purest motives would have even _considered_ telling me." Lana slid over on the old couch until their thighs were pressed tightly together. Taking his hands in hers, she said, "Abracadabra. Wish granted." Lana began to stretch her face upward. "I don't have a magic wand this time, so I guess I'll just have to touch your head with these."

Clark had no doubt what 'these' were. Lana's lips kept looming larger until they seemed to fill his view. Those very lips then started exerting their own gravitational pull which wrenched his lips down to meet hers. The kiss started soft and sweet but ended with heavy breathing and deeply flushed faces.

Holding each other close as they tried to gather their composure, Clark finally said, "So you really _do_ grant wishes."

"That's _all_ you wished for, Clark?" Lana asked, in mock disbelief.

"Almost," Clark replied. "I think that was just the first installment, though. I wished for a lifetime supply."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Bon Voyage

It was the day before the end of Clark's freshman year, two days before Whitney would leave for the U. S. Marine Corps, and four days before Chloe was scheduled to go to Metropolis for her summer internship at the Daily Planet and 'Miss Lonely Hearts' was trying to give Pete some advice on dealing with Chloe.

"But, Clark, I can't talk to Chloe like I do to other girls. She's different…she's _special."_

"You're right about that, Pete," Clark replied. "The specifics of what worked for me as I chased after Lana probably won't work for you, but if you manage to keep the idea that she's special in the forefront of your thoughts as you go after Chloe, you just might succeed. Having said that, I'm going to give you my thoughts anyway."

Clark moved around Pete and sat down on his comfy old stuffed chair. Pete took a seat on the couch, and when Pete's butt hit the cushion, Clark continued.

"First off, you're going to come with me to see Chloe off on her way to Metropolis. Sure it's possible she might not be coming back, what with Lex's attempted buyout of the plant and all, but you never know. You'll start out as my wingman, but by the time Chloe leaves, you'll be the one out front telling her how much you'll miss her.

"After that, make sure you have her e-mail address and phone number in Metropolis. I'll keep in contact occasionally, but you should be sending a steady stream of messages. The idea is to both let her know you care, and to keep you in the front of her thoughts. While that's a good start, at some point you will have to begin letting her know how you feel. _Don't_ fall to pieces if she reacts badly. Being Chloe, she may jerk away at first, but be patient and be steady. Give her a chance to assess this new information you've dumped on her. Patience and persistence should be your watchwords. If things go well, by the time school starts in the fall, she'll be _burning_ to fall into your arms."

Pete bowed his head and scratched an itch on the back of it just above the neck, and said, "Think that'll work?"

Exasperated just a little bit, Clark said, "It's not about it 'working,' Doofus. It's about giving you a chance to get Chloe's attention. What you _do_ with her attention once you get it is all up to you."

"Thanks, Clark. Thanks for your advice and thanks for not making fun of me about this. Lord knows you have the right to get back at me for all the times I've given you some crap about your Lana fixation."

Clark waved away Pete's thanks as he said, "That's no problem, Pete. It's what best friends are for these days."

"Who knows? If Miss Lonely Hearts can help you get the girl of your dreams, maybe 'her' advice will help me, too."

Two days later, a large crowd had gathered at the bus station to give Whitney a big sendoff. Whitney had many friends in Smallville, some who were close and some he knew only superficially, but they all wanted to support him. Lana was somewhat nervous about this day because she had only recently dumped Whitney and she wondered what people would think when she showed up. Luckily for her, Clark was more than willing to come along to support her. Chloe came along because Clark asked, to keep this from being a couples thing, which most people would see as a slap in the face for Whitney. Pete came along because he knew Chloe was going to be there.

Whitney had always liked big crowds during his days as a quarterback, but this many people being here to see him on his way was beginning to make him uncomfortable. Whitney thought, _All that's missing is a friggin' marching band and a key to the city from the mayor._

Whitney was chatting with some of his closest friends while waiting for the bus to arrive when Lana and her escort waded through the press of humanity to make it to his side. Lana had already decided to play it bold, so she moved to his side, gave him a one-armed hug, and said, "Hi, Whitney!" When Lana hugged him, Whitney's friends melted away into the crowd to give them a little bit of privacy.

Whitney had seen Lana a couple of times as she edged her way through the crowd, and he was feeling mixed emotions upon seeing her. Part of him was glad she had decided to come out and support him as a friend, but the rest of him still remembered that he had been thinking long-term about her not too long ago and it still hurt to see her, especially when she was accompanied by _him._

Whitney thought Clark was generally a good guy, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of rage build up inside of him every time he saw him these days…_especially_ when he saw him with Lana. But that was something he had to put aside today because he knew they were here for him and any show of lingering hard feelings would be rude.

"Hi, Lana," Whitney replied as he returned her hug, "I didn't actually expect to see you out here today."

"Like I'd miss this. We _are_ still friends you know and if you'll let me, I intend to write to you while you're gone."

Shifting his eyes toward Clark who had hung back several feet away, Whitney asked, "Is Clark okay with that?" Secretly, Whitney hoped he wasn't okay with it and that Lana would write to him anyway.

"Yeah, Clark's just fine with the idea. He would never try to take me away from my friends."

"Even ones that used to be your boyfriend?"

"Even those. I think Clark knows that true friends are rare enough that we can't afford to kick them to the curb just for the sake of convenience."

"In that case, Lana, write to me. I'll be sure to write back whenever I can. Now, let me talk to Clark for a minute. Okay?"

"Mmm…okay." Lana motioned for Clark to come forward and she squeezed his hand briefly before fading back to join Chloe and Pete.

"Clark," Whitney said, "let's take a walk."

Clark hadn't really talked to Whitney since the Spring Formal and at that time, Whitney hadn't known about him and Lana, so he wasn't looking forward to this, but he couldn't think of a way to graciously back out, so he followed Whitney around to the back side of the small bus terminal.

When they got there, Whitney said, "You've got Lana now, Clark. Take care of her. Treat her like a princess, just the way she ought to be treated, and I won't have to come back here and take her away from you."

"I treat her as well as I know how, Whitney, but I treat her like a young woman, not a princess. She's had enough of being a princess to last her a lifetime."

Whitney nodded his head slowly. It made sense to him that Lana would be tired of being seen that way. Maybe that's where he had gone wrong with her. In any case, he knew she was with someone who cared for her. He thought he could trust Clark to keep an eye on her, even if they eventually broke up. Whitney smothered the last bit of rage that he felt for Clark, held out his hand, and said, "Don't mess this up, Clark. Lana's special. Just be the guy she deserves."

Clark took Whitney's hand and shook it. "You've got a deal, Whitney."

It wasn't long after they returned to the front of the building that the bus showed up and began loading up. Whitney was one of only two passengers getting on here, so the bus was ready quickly. Whitney stopped on the first step of the bus, turned to the assembled crowd and thanked them for coming out here to support him.

At the conclusion of his short speech, Whitney said, "I'll make you all proud."

His last act before climbing the steps was to hug and kiss his mom. The last things the crowd saw were Whitney's denim-covered legs and white sneakers as they turned to the left and headed down the aisle.

Finally, it was Chloe's turn to leave. Clark fully expected her, unlike Whitney, to return to Smallville soon because he had every confidence in Lex's ability to make Lexcorp work. Chloe, Pete, and Clark had spent the previous night together hanging out and doing whatever came to mind. Lana thought it likely that Chloe wouldn't appreciate her horning in on her last night with Clark, so she had insisted on sitting that one out.

But when it was time for Chloe to go, Lana was right there with the two guys and Mr. Sullivan, helping Chloe pack her car. Her red Ford Falcon was stuffed to the door handles by the time she was ready to go. She then started her goodbyes and, surprisingly, she started with Lana. But Chloe wasn't satisfied with a quick 'goodbye' and a peck on the cheek. She had something she wanted to get off of her chest, so she pulled Lana over to the side of the house while leaving the guys by the curb.

Chloe pulled a stray lock of hair behind her ear and said, "We've come a long way this year, Lana. I started off thinking you were nothing more than another vapid cheerleader caught in the relentless pursuit of popularity. But I learned differently. There's substance behind that beauty, which is something that Clark has known all along." Lana showed a flash of surprise, and in response, Chloe held up her hands as if to ward off whatever Lana might be about to say. "I know we never talk about Clark. After all, what could we need to say? We've both been interested in him and we each knew the other one was too, but talking about it would have put our own budding friendship at risk.

"But now that Clark's made his choice, There's something I need to say about him…and you."

Not sure if she was going to like this, Lana mentally braced herself and said, "Okay, Chloe, I'm ready."

_God, this isn't going to be easy,_ Chloe thought, but she had come too far to back out now. Chloe gathered herself, looked Lana squarely in the eyes, and said, "I love Clark. I have since the day I met him. It was virtually love at first sight for me, but I learned quickly that he was stuck on you and that I would have to wait my turn. It seems I'm still waiting for my turn and likely will be for some time."

Lana had no idea how to respond to that, so she kept quiet and waited for Chloe to continue. "I'm going to be gone, at least for the summer, which should give you and Clark plenty of time to either sink or swim in this new relationship of yours. If, when I come back, you still make him happy, I'll stay out of your way. I'll respect Clark's choice, and you and I can still be friends."

Chloe gritted her teeth as she came to the hard part of what she had to say. "I don't mean to be a b!tch, but if I think he's unhappy with you, if you treat him with anything less than the respect he deserves, I promise to do my very best to end your relationship and take him for myself."

"I don't know how to respond to that, Chloe."

"You don't have to, Lana. Just be the girl Clark deserves."

Chloe launched herself at Lana then and the two girls hugged. "I am _so_ gonna miss you this summer, Lana," Chloe said.

Chloe's sudden swing in demeanor threw Lana for a loop, but she managed to say, "I'll miss you, too. It's been nice to have a friend whose friendship wasn't based on my popularity."

When the girls returned to the street, the three guys were leaning against the side of Chloe's car and shooting the breeze.

Chloe then took her leave of Clark. After a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Chloe whispered in his ear, "Be happy, Clark, just…be happy."

Chloe then said her farewells to Pete, who seemed strangely emotional to her, and to her dad, before finally climbing behind the wheel for the long drive to Metropolis. As she pulled away from the curb, Pete stepped into the street and waved as he said to himself, "Bon voyage, Chloe. Please come back."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Famous Last Words

The best summer in the young lives of Clark and Lana was drawing to a close as they sat side by side in Clark's loft window, aimlessly kicking their heels against the wall of the barn. The sun was just beginning to set, and from what they could see already, this promised to be one of the best sunsets of the year.

Pressed closely together in the comparatively narrow opening of the doorway, the young couple still held hands with a sense of excitement and wonder as if they were on their first date. The sky was already filled with a riot of color. Pinks, oranges, and lavenders were banded in uneven layers as the sun just began to hit the horizon. There were high, fluffy clouds which were lit from underneath by the setting sun at such a sharp angle that the young couple could see brightly lit patches of cloud which were hemmed in by dramatic shadows. Clark and Lana sat there in silence, completely absorbed with the majesty of nature's display.

Dinner had been some two hours in the past. After eating, Clark and Lana had waited thirty minutes and then had gone for a long run together. When Lana had mentioned to Clark at the beginning of the summer that she wanted to find what she was good at, like Whitney was good at football, Clark had immediately taken her love of running and suggested to her that she might want to get serious about it and try out for the Smallville cross country team.

Lana had perked up at that idea and had been training daily since then. Clark had been her faithful companion on those runs and had been a never-ending source of encouragement and inspiration for her, pushing her to run farther and faster than she had ever thought possible. As next week's start of school loomed ever larger on their mental horizons, Lana was feeling very confident about the team tryouts which would be held during the first week of school.

For his part, Clark had used this training to spend more alone time with Lana, far from the prying eyes of either of their families. He had gotten to witness her struggle up hills, across farm fields, and down country lanes. As the summer went on, he had watched her strength and confidence grow daily.

The fact that she did all of her running in a sports bra and tiny running shorts had just been a bonus as far as he was concerned. When Lana had teased him after catching him checking her out, Clark had turned brilliant red and then had zipped home, coming back seconds later wearing a skin-tight tank top and running shorts of his own, which had made Lana clap and cheer in appreciation. Ever since then, those kinds of outfits had become their unofficial uniforms for their training runs.

The hormonal surges caused by prolonged exposure to each other while wearing the skimpy running outfits could only be relieved by prolonged make-out sessions. They had talked early on and quickly established that neither one of them were ready for sex, but that didn't impede their kissing at all. Lana thought Clark had the most luscious 'kiss cushions' she had ever seen, much less kissed, and Clark never could get enough of Lana's delicately curved lips.

Clark and Lana's summer wasn't just comprised of running and kissing, their schedules had been crammed full. Lana had been busy running the Talon. Her aunt was officially the manager, but with Nell busy at the flower shop, Lana was actually the one in charge. Clark had spent a lot of time both on regular farm chores and on cleanup and repair in the aftermath of the tornado. Nevertheless, the two of them made plenty of time for each other. Rarely was one of them seen out and about without the other one in close attendance. They went for morning horse rides, afternoon swims at Crater Lake, and whiled away many hours taking turns reading to each other while lying side by side in Clark's hammock.

Yes, it had been the best of summers, and as the last colors of the dying sunset faded to dark blue and then to black, the young couple continued to sit there and began to relive their summer vacation.

Eventually, the topic turned to distant friends. Lana relayed the most recent information from Whitney. His thirteen-week Marine boot camp was almost over and she could tell he was changing. He had had a hard time of it at first, but as he learned the Marine way of doing things, he had settled in nicely.

Lana mentioning Whitney caused Clark to mention Chloe and how she was doing. She appeared to be in her element as an intern at the Daily Planet. Just a week earlier, Clark had kept his promise and had visited Chloe to see what her world in the big city was like. He had also brought Pete along and had been gratified to learn this was Pete's _third_ trip to see her.

That visit was when Chloe had pulled Clark aside and told him that there was someone new in her life…Pete. Later, she had explained the evolution of their relationship. At first, she had just thought he was being nice and keeping in touch, but she had eventually detected a change in the tone of his messages. When she called Pete on it during his first visit to 'her natural habitat,' he came clean and confessed that he wanted to be more than just friends with her and always had.

At that point, a stunned Chloe had come to realize that she was in the same position with respect to Pete, that Clark had been with respect to her. Since she had always wanted Clark to give her a chance, she thought she owed it to Pete to give him a shot. So she did and, wonder of wonders, they had been together ever since.

"No way!" Lana said. "Pete and Chloe? Together? As a couple? Wow! Who saw that coming?"

"I didn't know how Chloe'd respond," Clark said, "but Pete told me before school let out last year that he had it bad for Chloe. So, as my last duty as Miss Lonely Hearts, I gave him some ideas on what he could do." Lana stretched up to give Clark a kiss which he gladly accepted. "Funny thing is, this has been going on for a month and Pete never told me. When I finally asked him about it. He gave me a sheepish grin and told me that Chloe had insisted that _she_ be the one to tell me."

Lana shook her head in disbelief. "When is Chloe coming home? I want to meet her and I'm _dying_ to see her and Pete together."

"Chloe's coming home tomorrow, I've already promised to help him unload her car, though Pete will probably insist on doing the lion's share of work."

Finally deciding it was time for Lana to go home, Clark jumped out of the loft, landing on the hard-packed earth below. Lana waited until he turned to face her and then she jumped, too. Clark caught her easily and lowered her lithe body to the ground.

As they headed off toward her car, Clark asked, "Hey, Lana, did you get a school class ring order form in the mail today?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'm going to buy one anyway." Wondering at Clark's obvious excitement, she asked, "Why? Are you going to get one?"

"Yeah, I think I am," Clark said, excitedly. "I've earned a bunch of extra money this summer helping other farmers clean up after the tornado, and the ring I want is only $350."

Already sure of the answer, Lana asked, "What did your folks say?"

"Mom was noncommittal and Dad is determined that I'll put the money into my college fund, but it's my money. I earned it, so I'm getting a ring. Then, my girlfriend can wear my class ring."

"Clark! A ring for your pinky wouldn't even fit on my thumb, much less a ring made for your ring finger. What would I do with your ring?"

"Wear it on a chain around your neck. At least this time, you'll have a necklace that won't cause me problems…"

And so Clark and Lana headed toward their first full school year as a couple, fully committed to each other, ready to face whatever will come their way.


End file.
